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Copyright 1\°__ 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 












What is 

And 


True Religion? 

Other Addresses 



















What is True Religion? 

And Other Addresses 


By 

ROBERT J. MacALPINE, M. A., D. D. 

^ at* 

Minister , Central Presbyterian Church 
Buffalo , AT. Y. 




New York Chicago 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



Copyright, 1923, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 




©C1A711240 

New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 

JUL19 ’23 




To the Memory of 
Maria Pollock Stewart, 
my wife's sainted mother, 
this volume is lovingly 
dedicated. 




FOREWORD 


HE sermons of this volume were prepared 



and delivered within, the past two years of 


my present ministry. The conviction * 


that they should be published has been reached only 
after repeated pressure from many quarters. I, 
therefore, herewith broadcast them, with the prayer 
that through the Spirit of our blessed Lord they 
may help many others in their efforts to do the 
will of God on earth as it is done in Heaven. 


R. J. M. 


Buffalo, N. Y. 



Contents 


I. 

What is True Religion ? 

James 2:23 

. 11 

II. 

Growing a Soul .... 

II Peter 3:18 

. 22 

III. 

Seeing Jesus. 

John 12:21 

. 35 

IV. 

The Soul’s Dimensions 

Revelation 21:16 

. 49 

V. 

Our Secret Faults .... 
Psalm 19:23 

. 64 

VI. 

More Than Others .... 
Matthew 5:47 

. 78 

VII. 

God Making Our World 

Genesis 1:1; Revelation 21:5 

. 89 

VIII. 

The Silence of Eternity 

Isaiah 35:5 

. 102 

IX. 

Articulated Religion . 

John 1:14 

. 116 

X. 

God’s Closed Doors 

II Kings 4:4 

. 131 

XI. 

God’s Twelve Gates 

Revelation 21:13 

.145 


10 


CONTENTS 


XII. How to Prat .... 
Luke 11:1 

XIII. Why Wars Should Cease 

Isaiah 2:4 

XIV. Recognition Hereafter 

Matthew 8:11 

XV. Our Earthly Love Hereafter 
I Corinthians 13:13 


. 160 

. 172 

. 184 

. 195 


I 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


“ He was called the friend of God ." —James 11:23. 



HAT is religion? That is a question 
as old as human history and as deep 
as human nature. It cannot be an¬ 


swered by mere words. It cannot be understood 
by mere ideas. It is something vastly deeper and 
more vital than words or concepts. To answer this 
question is to fathom the human soul and to scale 
the heights of human being. It is to strip human 
life of its husks and to lay bare its kernel. It 
reaches below the grave and beyond the heavens. 
It transcends all theory and touches the main¬ 
spring of all truth. 

Religion is not something. It is not a creed; it 
is not a belief; it is not a faith. You cannot 
analyze or synthesize it; neither can you sub-or- 
dinate or co-ordinate it. You cannot measure or 
standardize it. It is deeper and higher and wider 
than the reasonings of man. 

Religion is a personal relationship between God 
and a human soul. It is not a personal belief 
about God. It is not a personal conviction con¬ 
cerning God. Ho. Vastly different. Don’t be 
deluded with any such thought. Too long has the 


11 


12 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


world made this mistake. It has long mistaken 
the form for the essence, the shadow for the sub¬ 
stance. No more could we say that marriage is 
a theory or conviction concerning love. It is a 
personal relationship. The text calls it a friend¬ 
ship. In short it meant that Abraham walked 
with God, and had personal communion with 
Him. 

This is the only Kind of religion, the personal 
kind. In fact the only kind of reality is personal. 
War does not become real till it becomes personal 
—till some dear friend or loved one goes forth to 
do his country’s service. Home does not become 
real till hearts beat as one around the altar fires. 
Problems are not real till we face them personally; 
till the flour sack runs out or the coal bin fails, 
with little or no market supply. Religion is noth¬ 
ing till it becomes personal. When a man begins 
to seek after communion with God he begins to be 
religious. When he holds converse with God, his 
religion is a reality. It is a dynamic. It is a 
living entity; a ruling factor in his life. 

Not only is religion a personal relationship, it 
is a friendship relation between God and a human 
soul. Friendship! How lovely and beautiful is 
the word! How sublime the thoughts that cluster 
around it! Altogether wordless and priceless! 
What is it? Who can explain it? Who can an¬ 
alyze it ? Indeed to attempt it is to spoil it. It is 
an atmosphere, a fragrance, a life-something we 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


13 


can only breathe. It is not house or furniture that 
makes home. No; it is the ineffable union of dear 
ones, husband and wife, parents and children, that 
makes home the realest and sweetest place in all 
the world. So it is with Religion. It does not 
consist in fine Churches and fine programs of Ser¬ 
vices or anything visible or external. It is found 
in the indefinable personal fellowship of God and 
man. It is a friendship experience with God. 

That was a religious time the disciples had when 
they met with Jesus in the Upper Room, not be¬ 
cause they talked and ate together, but because their 
heartstrings meshed with those of Jesus. And 
neither they nor the Church has ever forgotten that 
hour. Another religious hour was when they 
walked with the Master on the road to Emmaus. 
Their hearts burned within them as He talked with 
them by the way. Why? Their hearts burned as 
they communed with His great burning heart by 
the way. 

So, my friends, don’t waste time trying to ex¬ 
plain Religion. Just live it. That’s the only way 
you can know anything about it. Never mind 
whether marriage is a sacrament or a mere ordi¬ 
nance, as husbands and wives keep in loving fel¬ 
lowship with each other. So never mind explana¬ 
tions about Religion, just keep in filial fellowship 
with the Father. 

Religion is not something about God or the 
Church or worship or the Ten Commandments or 


14 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


the Gospel of Jesus. It is a vital personal oneness 
with God. To believe about God is theology; to 
walk with Him is Religion. To say there is a God, 
is a belief; to do His behest, is Religion. To de¬ 
clare the goodness of God, is faith; to trust Him 
when the way is dark, is Religion. To formulate 
your faith, is a creed; to realize it, is your Relig¬ 
ion. To pray is devotion; to pray and do your 
best, is Religion. To read the Bible, is an exercise 
of the soul; to follow its precepts, is Religion. Fol¬ 
lowing your conscience is a moral sequence; fol¬ 
lowing God is Religion. To esteem Jesus is an at¬ 
titude of mind; to abide in Him is Religion. 

We can easily test our Religion to see to what 
extent it is genuine. This is an age of test. Every 
machine, before it is sent out into the market, is 
thoroughly tested. And the simple test is found in 
the simple question—does it work ? Hoes the auto¬ 
mobile work ? Hoes the telephone work ? If 
not, it is either made to work or rejected. 
Precisely the same thing is true of religion. 
Its test is—Hoes it work ? The basis of your 
Religion is your faith in the unfailing goodness of 
God. The night comes on and the way is dark, do 
you trust Him? A dear one is taken from your 
side, health fails or misfortune befalls you, does 
your heart keep calm and sweet and balanced ? Or 
does it give way to the floodtide of sorrow and 
trial? Your experience is your answer to the test 
of your Religion. Your Religion is real, just as it 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


15 


grips the hand of God and as God grips your heart 
when all else seems to fail you. The test of Jesus’ 
Religion was in the Garden—the cross ahead. Its 
vital strength was seen, not when He prayed that 
the cup might be removed, for the good and bad 
alike could pray for such. It was seen when 
upon His face He said, “ Nevertheless not my will 
but Thine be done,” and then went out and un¬ 
flinchingly took up His cross. It’s the Job dynamic 
in us that says, “ Though He slay me, yet will I 
trust Him,” the Psalmist spirit that says, “ Though 
the mountains be cast into the sea, yet will I not 
be afraid.” Has your religion and mine stood the 
test? 

Another supreme test is how our Religion stands 
\prosperity . I believe this is a severer test than 
that of adversity. It takes a lot of Religion to be 
prosperous. It takes a lot of Religion to have a 
fast growing bank account. It takes a lot of Re¬ 
ligion to thoroughly enjoy life. It takes a lot of 
Religion to have good health and a host of friends. 
Jesus recognized that it was hard for the rich to 
have Religion enough to get into the Kingdom. 0, 
how often we witness the failure of Religion right 
here. How often when wealth comes, the Church 
goes; when loaded with life’s gifts, we forget the 
Giver. Herein is our test. We have been prosper¬ 
ous. God has been especially good to us. Have we 
continued proportionately faithful to Him? Do 
we thank Him a little more? Do we love Him a 


16 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


little better ? Do we support His kingdom as pro¬ 
portionately as before? To the extent our Relig¬ 
ion bas stood tbis test it is real. 

Once more. Tbe test of your Religious reality 
is seen in bow you act on Monday morning when 
you go back to business. How do you meet tbe 
temptation to do business in fashion a little off 
color ? How you deal witb your fellows in business 
tells me and tells you tbe amount of reality there is 
in your Religion. Religion that doesn’t get into a 
man’s business doesn’t get into anything else. It 
doesn’s exist. It’s a mirage. A man will always 
take bis Religion into bis business; he should never 
take bis creed there. He takes bis Religion, if be 
bas it. He takes it because be can’t help it; it’s a 
vital organic part of himself. To say a man ought 
to take bis Religion into bis business is as if you 
would say be ought to take bis aim into bis busi¬ 
ness. He could no more leave bis Religion behind. 
For Religion is not something a person has; it’s 
what be is. Yes, my Religion is my very sub¬ 
stance; it goes witb me where I go; it thinks when 
I think; it speaks when I speak; it acts when I act. 
What I think and say and do is, therefore, the test 
of my Religion’s reality. 

How stands the test—your Religion and mine? 
When temptation assails, when trial befalls, when 
things go well and when they go ill? How about 
the moment when your faith is tried ? When you 
see a world of Christian Nations at each other’s 



WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


17 


throats? When you stand back aghast at the in¬ 
human atrocities of war? When you see slipping 
from you your heart’s dear treasure ? When 
some one has despitefully used you? When there 
is no gleam of hope ahead? When God seems to 
have forgotten you, or when He calls you to some 
noble service? What is your response? Tell me 
your answer, for that tells me what your Religion 
is. 

My hearers, there is no denominational Religion. 
There is no Presbyterian or Methodist or Baptist or 
Catholic Religion, any more than there is Presby¬ 
terian or Methodist or Baptist or Catholic mar¬ 
riage. Religion is vastly more vital and transcend¬ 
ent than any such man-made distinctions or classi¬ 
fications. You can’t classify it any more than you 
can classify human life itself. 

Religion is far more than a system; it is the 
fountain of the soul. It is not an institution; it is 
a spiritual universe in the soul of man. To say 
“ There is a God ” is theology; to say “ O Lord, 
Thou art my God and King ” is Religion. To' say 
“ Jesus is the Saviour of the world ” is the gospel; 
to say with Thomas, “ My Lord and My God! ” is 
the Christian Religion. My Religion is a relation¬ 
ship between God and me. It is a relationship of 
friendship. And there is no denominational friend¬ 
ship. There are no Presbyterians in Heaven, nor 
Methodists, nor Baptists, nor Catholics, nor any 
other sects as such. These words are unknown 


18 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


there. Only friends of God are there. Only those 
who commune and hold fellowship with Him. In 
other words, only the religious. 

True Religion is true friendship with God. It 
is true oneness with God. Perfect Religion con¬ 
sists in perfect personal unity with God, perfect 
love for Him and loyalty to His will. This we see 
in the Religion of Christ. Jesus never taught Chris¬ 
tianity. He couldn’t, for it can’t be taught—any 
more than life can be taught. He lived the perfect 
friendship with God. “ I and my Father are one.” 
Christianity cannot be explained; it can only be ex¬ 
pressed. It never appears; it only radiates. It is 
not a theory; it is a life. It is not a system; it is a 
dynamic. It does not come into our hearts; it 
wakens within us. It is not a revelation to us; it 
is a growth within us. It is the eternal personal 
harmony between God and man in the human soul. 
Therefore, don’t confuse Christianity with the 
Christian Church or Church membership. These 
are an organization, while the Christian Religion is 
an actual living personal experience. The Christian 
Church is only a fruit, while Christianity is its 
root. 

This brings me to say that, as there is no true 
fruit without a true root, neither can there be a 
genuine Christian Church without genuine Chris¬ 
tianity as its root. Did Jesus not say to the dis¬ 
ciples as they went to establish the Church: 
“ Abide in me and I in you * * * without me 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


19 


ye can do nothing” So will our Religion grow and 
bear fruit only when it is of this Christ root. My 
belief about Jesus will not do. My theories con¬ 
cerning Him will not do. It will not be sufficient 
so say, “ I believe He was divine, the Son of God, 
that He was crucified, dead, and buried, and that 
He rose the third day and ascended to Heaven and 
that there He makes perpetual intercession for us.” 
Ho. All that is not sufficient. I must hold vital 
personal friendship with Him. He must be to me 
a personal friend. I must experience a fellowship 
with Him. Amid the throng I must touch the hem 
of His garment. I must believe in Him in that I 
walk with and have fellowship with Him. There 
is no Christianity but this. 

There is no Christianity in the Gospels. There 
is no Christianity in the Bible. There is no Chris¬ 
tianity in sermons. There is no Christianity in 
confessions of faith. It exists only in a Christian’s 
heart. And, moreover, there is no Christianity that 
does not show itself Sunday and every other day of 
the week, in home, in office, in workshop, in season 
and out of season. It will take me at last to Hea¬ 
ven. It will do vastly more. It will begin right 
here to make my Heaven on earth and after death 
it will perfect my Heaven in the Father’s house for¬ 
ever. Because Christianity is not something I pos¬ 
sess; it is an integral part of myself. It is an 
eternal friendship with God through His Christ, 
governing my life and unfolding my destiny 


20 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


according to the plan of Heaven. So by the 
fruits shall ye know the tree. Is your daily 
life Christian? With anxiety do I ask the 
question. For, apart from your daily life, you 
have no Christianity. There is no Christian Relig¬ 
ion on earth that is not clothed with flesh and 
blood. “ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom. 77 Why ? Be¬ 
cause there is absolutely no Religion in words. Nor 
is there in deeds. Only in the heart of man. And 
out of such a heart only are the issues of true re¬ 
ligion. 

So then the answer to the question, “ What is 
Religion ? 77 is found in the lives of those who pos¬ 
sess it. Every Christian is, therefore, a living 
epistle known and read among men. Men know 
the Christian Religion only as they know us. Their 
estimate of us is their estimate of the reality of 
Christianity. The Divinity of Jesus and the valid¬ 
ity of the Gospel are only secondary questions com¬ 
pared with their judgment as to the divinity and 
validity of our daily lives. Men hear about Christ 
in book and sermon; they see Him only as He ap¬ 
pears through us. The world hears about Chris¬ 
tianity, but the only Christianity it sees is in the 
lives of Christians. How much do they see of 
Christ and His true religion in us ? Are we lights 
set upon a hill ? Do men take knowledge of us that 
we have been with Jesus and learned of Him ? Is 
His Religion crystallized in us ? Are we on such in- 


WHAT IS TRUE RELIGION? 


21 


timate personal terms with Him that our love sav¬ 
ors of His ? Does our very presence speak of His ? 
Does it breathe His spirit ? Does it mean so much 
to us that others, seeing us, long for it too? Are 
we to the world the conclusive proof of the reality 
and blessedness of Religion? Men see in us the 
answer to Religion—What is it? Every day in 
home and office and workshop and society we are 
telling the story over and over again. What is the 
story? Is it the old, old story that Jesus told so 
beautifully and so savingly long ago ? Or is it the 
old story only half told, unlovely and unsaving? 
So, be this our daily prayer: 

Take my life, and let it be 
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. 

Take my moments and my days, 

Let them flow in ceaseless praise. 


II 


GROWING A SOUL 

“But grow in grace ”—II Peter 3:18. 

I N Cleveland a motto hangs above the largest 
department store in Ohio which reads, “ Watch 
us grow.” Many times as I caught a glimpse 
of it, while pastor of a church in that growing 
metropolis of the State, I was moved with the 
thought that any business concern which is seized 
with such a concept must g\row. Moreover, the very 
tang of the store seemed to possess the spirit of 
growth—and growth was everywhere apparent. It 
struck at the very root of all success—the law of 
becoming—gaining—developing, increasing, per¬ 
fecting. 

There are two fundamental laws in connection 
with this text to which I wish to direct your atten¬ 
tion. First, the law of growth is the law of life. 
And second, the law of life is the law of growth. 
Let us consider these principles. 

All growth depends primarily upon the presence 
of life. If there be no life, it is needless to say, 
there will be no growth. Peter addressed the words 
of our text to the Christians in Asia Minor. How 

foolish it would have been had he addressed them 

22 



GROWING A SOUL 


23 


to the non-Christians of that or any other part of 
the world. It would have been no less foolish than 
for the farmer in the springtime to sow lifeless 
seed, and then say to it, “ Grow.” Why do anx¬ 
ious parents peer into the form of their new-born 
babe ? Is it first of all to ascertain the sex or com¬ 
plexion or colour of the eyes? No—it is to see 
whether there be present the evidence of life. For 
well do they know that, if there be no life, there 
will be no future growing child and finally a full- 
grown man or woman. 

This all holds true in the realm of the soul. 
There must be first the Christian life before there 
can be growth in the Christian life. The spirit of 
Christ must be present before we can grow in that 
spirit. Just here we strike upon the thorn of scien¬ 
tific contention as to the transmutation of species. 
For our purposes it need not concern us whether our 
fathers were monkeys. The fact is that we are not 
monkeys, but men with all the possibilities and re¬ 
sponsibilities of men—however it has come about. 
Moreover, as Christians, we possess a peculiar seed- 
life of soul that grows into a fruit called the Spirit 
of Christ. This cannot be obtained by mere moral 
development. All the honesty and kindliness in the 
world toward our neighbour could never develop 
into the tiniest fruit of the Christ Spirit. All the 
cultivation in the world, so far 'as we know, has 
never lifted a rose to anything but a rose, or a 
strawberry to anything but a strawberry. The dog 




24 


GROWING A SOUL 


rose may have become an American beauty; the 
wild strawberry may have become a luscious Wilson 
grade. But neither has become more than a rose 
or a strawberry. Some of the world’s sublimest 
moral characters have never even professed any at¬ 
tainment to the Christian life. Rather, have some 
of them rejected it. 

No. Bear in mind you can never grow from 
Moses to Christ. The gulf must be bridged over 
with the specific vitalization of Christ. You may 
become the finest kind of neighbour, or one of the 
very best characters in the community. But re¬ 
member you cannot develop either fineness or good¬ 
ness into Christian grace. They belong to the one 
soul but possess different forms of life-producing 
qualities. The one is universal; the other is spe¬ 
cific. One is born of the earth, the other of heaven. 
That is why Jesus declared to Nicodemus, “ that 
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which 
is born of the Spirit is Spirit.” Not that the two 
are incompatible, but that they are complementary. 
The latter is the fulfillment, the complement or 
completement of the former. The moral life can¬ 
not rise to the completement or perfection of the 
soul. There must be a specific provision made for 
its higher spiritual vitalization. The fibre of our 
moral nature is neither vitalized nor organized suf¬ 
ficiently to reproduce itself in the forms of spirit¬ 
ual or soul life. It was for this reason that Jesus 
said, “ Ye must be born from above.” Not born 


GROWING A SOUL 


25 


“ again.” For we are never truly—completely— 
born, till we are born “ from above ” 

We note, further, that Jesus came into the flesh 
with no other than a “ life ’’-giving purpose. He 
did not come to found a religion, to establish an 
empire, to construct a political theory, to formulate 
a philosophic hypothesis or to disclose a scientific 
law. He has nothing to say about capital and 
labour, about International Rights, about economic 
problems or social questions. No. His purpose is 
far deeper. He came to smite the rock of man’s 
deepest being, that out of it might flow life-giving 
streams down into the plains of the world’s every¬ 
day. Streams that will heal the sores of the human 
heart. Streams that will solve the ten thousand in¬ 
terhuman problems that have ever vexed the heart 
of man. Changing the figure, He came to sow the 
seed from whose kernel will grow the tree whose 
fruit means the health and strength and joy of all 
the sons of men who partake of it. Said He, “ I 
have come that ye might have life.” 

Thus arises our personal question. Do we pos¬ 
sess the life of Christ? Job answered this question 
in the clearest terms when he cried, “ I know that 
my Redeemer liveth.” So did Paul, when he de¬ 
clared, “ I am persuaded that neither death nor life 
* * * shall be able to separate us from the love 
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What 
is our answer ? Does there dwell in our soul this 
evening a pervading and unceasing consciousness 


GROWING A SOUL 


26 

that the Spirit of Christ is animating us in our 
daily walk and conversation? If we are satisfied 
as to this question, let us turn to the second aspect 
of our subject,—that the law of life means the law 
of growth. 

Everywhere these Spring days Nature speaks of 
growth . She tells us the story of growth over and 
over again in a thousand different forms, in burst¬ 
ing hud, in blooming flower and in ripening grain. 
But more than that we are told these days that 
Nature is just one vast growing universe; that 
planets, suns and stars are all in the process of 
growth. The small become large and the weak be¬ 
come strong, and the simple become the complex. 
The history of mankind, what is it but the story of 
the growth of man from his primitive and crude 
conditions up to the modem and cultivated forms' 
of life ? What is it but each branch of life growing 
in capacity, in strength and in organization along 
its own line, and all the branches inter-related and 
inter-functioned into one organic whole? Yes— 
above her galaxies of systems, the whole universe 
seems to flash out in emblazoned letters—“ Watch 
us grow.” And history is but the revelation of that 
growth. 

So it is no less true of the soul . Its history is 
one of growth or decay. It is the will of God that 
it grow perpetually. Thus Jesus said, “ I am come 
that ye might have life and that ye might have it 
more abundantly ” Here we strike upon the pri- 


GROWING A SOUL 


27 


mary principle that the law of life is the law of 
growth. Unless life grow, it ceases to be. The 
new-born infant must grow or die. There is no 
alternative. For there is nothing static. Every¬ 
thing is becoming. Organized life either develops 
or decays. There is no “ sitting-on-the-fence.” 
Life is a stream, not a pool. And we are on it, 
going either up or down. 

This principle holds true in every branch of life. 
Nations are constantly becoming either stronger or 
weaker; they are either rising or falling. The in¬ 
fluence of every nation is either growing or waning. 
Every business concern is ever becoming stronger 
or weaker. That firm is on the wane that says, 
“ We did a million dollar business last year; if we 
can do as much this year, we’ll be satisfied.” The 
nation that says, “ What we have we hold ” and 
aims at no more is also on the wane. Nature ever 
calls “ more, more and still more ’’ Her fixed law 
is one development—whether of stars, animals or 
men—mind or matter—body or soul. She is never 
satisfied. And when she goes on into eternity 
beyond, she will not be satisfied. She will still cry 
out for more, for growth. So it is with the soul. 
So Peter says, “ Grow in grace.” 

The soul is just an aspect of nature—it is not 
supernatural, for there is nothing supernatural. 
Or, if you like, in its essence everything is super¬ 
natural. The grace of Christ is the completement 
of nature—the culmination, the perfecting, the ful- 




28 


GROWING A SOUL 


fillment of nature. Jesus came not to destroy any¬ 
thing, but to fulfill everything. And everything 
must he fulfilled or die. So, the soul that ceases 
to grow, must die. “ The soul that sinneth it shall 
die.” Jesus left us no doubt on this point. “ Every 
branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh 
away.” The soul must grow larger, deeper and 
more active. It cannot remain satisfied with bear¬ 
ing just the same amount of fruit each year. For 
listen further to Jesus—“And every branch that 
beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth 
more fruit.” Time and eternity call in clarion 
tones to every human life to grow more and more 
and more. For therein is life found and lived out 
in its essence. 

This was the climactic thought of Peter. There 
is something peculiarly impressive about the last 
words of every loved one and every great one. The 
last paragraph of any great book is the culminating 
truth of the volume. Our text is the climax truth 
of all Peter had to say to the disciples in Asia 
Minor—“ Grow in grace.” Not to go out and 
found a sect or build a church or reform the world, 
—No—just to “ Grow in grace.” 

Yes, the soul must grow. As Christians we are 
in the growing business. We are growing a civil¬ 
ization; we are growing justice, liberty, truth and 
world democracy. We have outgrown slavery and 
the saloon, and to-morrow we’ll outgrow war, and, 
the day following, we’ll outgrow economic in jus- 


GROWING A SOUL 


29 


tice. And then on and on till we have grown the 
great soul of a world brotherhood and the Kingdom 
of Christ on earth. All reformations have not been 
acts but growths. The Reformation headed by 
Luther, for example, had been growing for cen¬ 
turies. Indeed, salvation itself is not an act but a 
process—a growth. And so is perdition. Hell is 
not a place into which we enter—it is a state into 
which we are growing. So is it true of heaven. 
It is not a place to which we are going—it is a 
state into which we are growing. Can we think for 
a moment that we are saved with the ten thousand 
imperfections that still encumber our souls ? Never. 
We are justified now—but we shall never be saved 
till finally we have grown a like Him.” We are ou 
the way to salvation—we are growing souls that 
are saved —growing in the “ grace of Christ.” I 
am growing my salvation and you are growing 
yours. That’s why the apostle said, “ Work out 
your salvation.” And, again, “ Now is our salva¬ 
tion nearer than when we believed.” 

Observe that we must aim at growth, whether we 
actually succeed in growing or not. Every natiun 
must aim at a greater national life and strength; 
every business concern must aim at a larger volume 
of business and a greater sum of profits. As a 
matter of fact, of course, in neither case may the 
enlargement be realized. That is not the point. 
The point is—what is the attitude of mind and 
heart? For, after all, it is not success that counts 


30 


GKOWING A SOUL 


primarily. It is effort. It is the growing attitude 
of mind that matters most. Exactly so is it with 
the soul. It must aim and struggle for a higher 
degree of Christian attainment than that yet 
reached, even though it fail to reach its aim. A 
man may pray ever so well to-day, but he must aim 
at a more vital prayer to-morrow. If he doesn’t, 
he will not pray so well to-morrow, and his soul 
will be the weaker. He may have rendered good 
service to the church and humanity to-day; he must 
aim to render better to-morrow. The law of growth 
requires it. If he doesn’t, his service next year 
will fall short of this year, and his soul will be the 
poorer. Our church did well last year in its con¬ 
tributions to benevolences; but our budget must be 
bigger and our efforts greater next year, else we 
shall fall back and our spiritual power will be les¬ 
sened. Christ gave us two essential key words— 
“ life ” and “ more.” Indeed what is Eternal life 
but “ life 99 ever “ more ” ? Science and philosophy 
tell us the same story of human nature, that in its 
analysis it is but " life " and “ more of it.” 
“More,” I mean that our lives will hold a greater 
potency, a clearer vision, a finer sensibility, a 
higher ideal, a more exalted activity—in brief—a 
nearer approach day by day to the mind of Christ 
in which is fulfilled all the verities of the soul. 

Thus there rises before us the greatest question 
of the text—“ Are we growing in the grace of 
Christ? Are we every day rising to a greater 


GROWING A SOUL 


31 


height? Are we realizing a little more clearly 
to-day than yesterday the beauty of Christ and the 
Christian life? Is our vision a little clearer? Is 
our desire a little purer? Is our compassion for 
others a little deeper ? Is our sense of right a little 
more quickened? Is our love for God and His 
children stronger ? ” If not, we are slipping back, 
and our life is losing its sweetness for ourselves and 
its influence upon others. 

But why ask such questions? For who can an¬ 
swer them? How do I know each day whether I 
am growing stronger or weaker? I don’t know. I 
cannot know. What then? Several times, while 
traveling across the continent, I sat a great deal on 
the rear end of the observation car. I observed 
this, that often the train had been going gradually 
up or down a grade for a mile or more before I 
discerned it. So is it with growing a soul. We 
may not be able to detect our growth in grace day 
by day, but every now and then the threshold of 
consciousness is reached and we become aware that 
we are going upward or downward. Compare 
yourself to-day with six month ago. Are you more 
keenly interested in the things of the soul than you 
were six months ago? Do you pray more fer¬ 
vently? Do the needs of men move your heart 
more readily? Does the church of Christ mean 
more to you? Are you more concerned about the 
ushering in of God’s Kingdom on earth ? To your 
mind do creeds count less and human essentials 


32 


GROWING A SOUL 


more? Are you more ready to forgive? Are you 
stronger to overcome your besetting sin ? Are you 
a more consistent husband, father, friend, citizen, 
business man, than you were six months ago ? Bear 
in mind in any event you are not just as you were 
half a year ago. 

In closing, we ask the vital question—How can 
I grow in grace? Well, first of all, don’t try to 
grow in grace. Just as useless and foolish would 
it be for a mother to say to her infant child— 
“ Try and grow, my dear.” No—the Lord has 
placed us in a world of growth according to the 
laws of life. What does the wise mother do ? She 
places her child in the proper atmosphere, nourishes 
it and gives it rest. The gardener cultivates the 
soil, plants his seed, tends it, and leaves the rest 
to kind Heaven. So is it in growing a soul. “ Paul 
may plant, Apollos may water, but God alone 
giveth the increase.” God grows the soul, man 
only nourishes and tends it. Cultivate the soul 
with proper thought matter and chaste desires. 
Breathe the atmosphere of prayer and scriptural 
meditation. Linger on Nature’s highest handiwork 
and the soul’s deepest intuitions. “ Whatsoever 
things are * * * of good report, think on these 
things.” Fill your cup of kindness to-day, and to¬ 
morrow it will take a pitcher to hold it. Lisp your 
gratitude to God to-day and to-morrow it will be¬ 
come a song of praise. Cultivate the seed of chas¬ 
tity in your heart to-day and to-morrow it will be 


GROWING A SOUL 


33 


in your bosom the fragrant blossom of purity. 
Plant today the little shoots of faith, nourish it 
every day, and not long hence there will grow up 
in your soul the sturdy oak of trust that not all 
the storms of life can move. 

But more, you must become vitally grafted into 
the source of all spiritual life and growth—the 
.Vine of all human souls. Listen to His pregnant 
message: “ I am the vine, ye are the branches: 
he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bring- 
eth forth much fruit: for severed from me, ye can 
do nothing.” He alone is the Fountain and Chan¬ 
nel of all grace. Wrapt up in His grace is the 
crowning perfectness of every human soul. 

Remember it is just by our little daily attention 
to the soul that we really grow. Therefore every 
day close in a little nearer to Christ. Grip His 
hand a little tighter. Talk with Him a little more 
intimately. Get under His yoke a little closer. 
Walk with Him in little warmer friendship. 
Breathe His spirit a little more deeply. Love Him 
a little more ardently. Catch His vision a little 
more clearly. Doubt Him a little less, and serve 
Him a little more. Don’t wonder about Him; just 
grow like Him. Don’t criticise His gospel; just 
assimilate it. Don’t build up theories about Him; 
just grow into His likeness. In brief, grow a 
Christ heart. Grow a Christ love. Grow a Christ 
temperament. Grow a Christ forgiveness. Grow a 
Christ faith; in short, a Christ mind . As the great 


34 


GROWING A SOUL 


apostle put it, “ Let tliis mind be in you which was 
also in Christ Jesus.” Then be this our prayer, 
that every passing day we may so direct all our 
thoughts, and words and deeds that we shall grow 
in the character of Jesus. What a conception of 
life—great and grand—growing every day into the 
exact likeness of Christ and into the very image 
of God! Every day a new day of onward, upward 
reach. Every day the vision of the eternal a little 
clearer: God and Heaven a little nearer, and the 
Master of men a little dearer. 

“ E’en though it be a cross 
That raiseth me, 

Still all my song shall be 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 

Nearer to Thee.” 



Ill 


SEEING JESUS 

“Sir, we would see Jesus.” —John 12:21. 

A VOICE had come from heaven. What 
was it? It was the voice of the Father 
of all mankind. Why did He speak ? It 
was in answer to the call of Jesus. And why did 
Jesus thus call? It was in answer to the call of 
certain Greeks to see Jesus. When men inquire to 
see Jesus, Heaven is not far away; they are not 
far from the Kingdom of God. And, so, these 
Greeks who came saying to Philip, “ Sir, we would 
see Jesus,” were not far from Jesus Himself. 

Greeks Cultured Folks 
Who were these Greeks ? They were the world’s 
cultured folk. All nations came to learn their wis¬ 
dom. At their feet sat the intellectual leaders of 
Rome and Carthage and the other great centers of 
the earth. To this cultured class belonged Homer, 
their classic poet; Plato, their first philosopher 
Demosthenes, their renowned orator; Solon, their 
premier statesman, and Phidias, their famous 
sculptor. From this select company, of the world’s 

great lights, came these Greeks to “ see Jesus.” 

35 


36 


SEEING JESUS 


Culture Cannot Satisfy 

Culture could not satisfy these men. It has 
never satisfied the world. We all admire the 
beautiful, but there is something we crave beyond 
the beautiful. We love the lovely, but we thirst 
after something greater than the lovely. We drink 
from the deep well. We seek after wealth. But 
when we have found it, we are still unsatisfied.' We 
strive for position. And when we have secured it, 
there is still a “void within the soul.” Yes, there 
is something in the unfathomed depth and height 
and in the unmeasured breadth of the human soul 
that culture can never reach. So these Greeks with 
all their learning and wisdom were dissatisfied. 
And they came to see the Light of all the Ages. 
And they said, “ Sir, we would see Jesus.” 

More and more, ever since, the world has fol¬ 
lowed these Greeks in their quest to see Jesus. 
Less than two generations ago, edicts were posted 
everywhere in Japan, declaring death to all who 
accepted Christianity or declared their allegiance 
to Jesus. Soon afterward, when the hermit empire 
was waking to its place in civilization, the govern¬ 
ment sent out an embassage to find the secret of 
Christian civilization. Her envoys, after diligent 
investigation, returned. They reported that the 
secret of the growth and strength of western na¬ 
tions was not in their forms of government, nor 
in their methods of business, nor in their laws or 
institutions, nor in their schools or churches, but 


SEEING JESUS 


37 


in their Jesus. Forthwith, the doors of Japan were 
opened to the Christian religion, the edicts were 
withdrawn, and the Japanese have ever since been 
following these Greeks in their quest to “ see 
Jesus.” To-day four of their ministers of govern¬ 
ment have seen Jesus and are daily walking with 
Him. 

In the Boxer days no Englishman could speak 
with higher authority on China than Sir Robert 
Hart. He declared at that time that no political 
move could save China, not even the much talked 
of partitioning, but that in his opinion only the 
religion of Jesus could save that ancient people. 
Some time ago John R. Mott, the well-known In¬ 
ternational Y. M. C. A. Secretary, asked the Presi¬ 
dent of China for an interview. He received word 
fifteen minutes would be granted. Mr. Mott laid 
before him the claims of Jesus and His Religion 
upon China. When the fifteen minutes were up, 
Mr. Mott arose to leave. But the President begged 
him to remain. He remained thirty minutes 
longer. And when he arose to go, the ruler of 
400,000,000 people said, “ I want to see this Jesus, 
for He does what Confucius and every other Chi¬ 
nese religious leader cannot do; He can give power 
to carry out what He teaches. China wants Him. 
You must bring Him to every village as well as to 
every city in China.” 

The world’s interest is centering around the Far 
East. Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Fosdick have just 


38 


SEEING JESUS 


returned from there. They both tell us the Ear 
East is calling to “ see Jesus.” The ancient relig¬ 
ions are losing their hold, and the masses are call¬ 
ing for the One who fills and satisfies the human 
soul. One of our missionaries in India tells us he 
can scarcely get the natives to leave the Services. 
“ They are literally hungering for Him who said, 
6 1 am the Bread of Life.’ ” Why ? It is the deep 
calling to the deep in every human breast. 

Poor Bussia! Broken Russia! Yes! But she 
will return. She is already beginning to return. 
Lenine recently declared that he had made a mis¬ 
take in trying to rule Russia without religion. Mr. 
Balfour, leading English statesman at the Arma¬ 
ment Conference, said a few days ago that the hope 
of the civilized world is not in her science or her 
navies, but in the religion of Jesus. Roger W. 
Babson, the foremost American statistician and 
commercial writer, says, “ The religion which we 
talk about for an hour a week, on Sunday, is not 
only the vital force which protects our community, 
but it is the vital force which makes our communi¬ 
ties.” Yes, the world is on the heels of these 
Greeks, whether it knows it or not. Dissatisfied 
with all else, it is saying in a thousand ways, “ Sir, 
we would see Jesus.” 

Would Must See Jesus 

The world must see Jesus. It must actually see 
Him. Mere hearing of Him and believing about 


SEEING JESUS 


39 


Him and talking about Him will not do. These 
Greeks bad beard of Him, but that did not satisfy 
them. They wanted to see Him. Seeing is tbe 
most important sense. Scientists tell us that tbe 
optic nerve is tbe strongest nerve in tbe body. It 
bears tbe impact of light reflected from all tbe 
world of sense. Its duty is so great, its strength 
is so taxed, that tbe Provident Maker has made an 
eyelid to shade it for an instant every few seconds 
during tbe day. And He makes us draw this shade 
for seven or eight hours every night to give it rest. 
Four-fifths of all the sense-work is done by the eye. 
Four-fifths of all sense knowledge comes through 
the avenue of sight. 

Hearing about Jesus, we have said, is not suffi¬ 
cient. When will the world learn this important 
fact? For centuries it has heard and believed 
about Him, but how few have seen Him. Many 
have entered the Church to worship. Many have 
united with His Church. They have named His 
blessed name. But, 0, how many have not yet be¬ 
held Him! They have followed Him, yes, they 
have touched Him. But their eyes have not yet 
seen Him. 

It was ever so. There was Peter . He followed 
Jesus many a day. But he did not see Jesus till 
that moment when it burst upon his vision that 
Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. What a 
vision! It became the Bock on which the Master 
declared He would build His church. 


40 


SEEING JESUS 


Once more there was the instance of Philip . All 
those months Philip had journeyed with Jesus. 
He had heard Him preach to the multitudes. He 
had seen Him give light to the blind and hearing 
to the deaf. He had seen Him cleanse the leper 
and restore the demoniac. He had seen Him feed 
the multitude and raise the dead. Yes. Yet the 
Saviour turned to him one day and said: u Have 
I been so long a time with you, and yet hast thou 
not known me, Philip ? 99 

And finally there was Judas . For two and a 
half years he walked in the company of Jesus. He 
was a trusted disciple. He often looked into the 
Saviour’s face. He often ate and drank with the 
Master. He even sat at the Lord’s table in the 
upper room. But he never caught a glimpse of 
Jesus. If he had, he never would have sold Him 
to His enemies. 

What the world is missing when it hears about 
Jesus, but sees Him not. How much greater would 
be the joy and the power of the Christian Church, 
if all her members beheld every day the saving 
glory and beauty of its blessed Lord and King. 

To See Jesus Is to Be Drawn to Him 

Everywhere men, whether they know it or not, 
are in quest of Jesus. And when they find Him, 
they will discover God’s New World that lies hid¬ 
den in every soul. Some time ago William A. 
Sunday, the famous evangelist, was conducting a 


SEEING JESUS 


41 


campaign in a western town. One of the interested 
laymen of the city invited his friend Gibbons to 
attend the meetings. But Gibbons said “ No, I 
have never heard him, and I don’t want to hear 
him.” Nevertheless, he gave in and went. The 
campaign had been on about a week and Mr. Sun¬ 
day had settled down to real business. The next 
day Gibbons’ friend asked him how he liked the 
evangelist. Quick as a flash came the reply—“ I 
liked him so well that I am going to hear him again 
to-night.” “ Tell me,” rejoined his friend, “ what 
you liked about him.” Then came the answer that 
tells the secret of “ Billy ” Sunday’s power. “ For 
thirty years I have heard about Jesus, but he was 
the first man that ever made me see Jesus.” And 
so he wanted to go again. And so does the world 
want to go where it can see Jesus. For a voice calls 
from the deep of every soul, “ Sir, we would see 
Jesus.” That is why Jesus said, “ I, if I be lifted 
up, will draw all men unto me.” In other words, 
“ When the world sees me the Redeeming Saviour, 
all men will be transformed into my likeness.” 

And so has it been all down the ages. The world 
has always surrendered its will and bowed its heart 
to the Jesus it has seen. But only to Him whom 
its spiritual eyes have beheld. In a metropolitan 
art gallery, as I entered, there sat a man gazing at 
a painting. Returning three hours later he was 
still gazing upon that painting. Why? Why so 
totally absorbed? It was a master portrait of the 


42 


SEEING JESUS 


Redeemer’s face. At the Louvre in Paris I saw 
the multitudes pass by Rubens’ “ Virgin,” his 
“ Awakening of Lazarus,” his “ Triumph of Re¬ 
ligion,” and stop to linger upon his “ Face of 
Christ.” Why ? The answer is in the quest of the 
ancient Greeks, “ Sir, we would see Jesus.” 

Is the Church Unveiling Jesus? 

A few years ago a prominent minister in Boston 
complained bitterly from his pulpit that so few at¬ 
tended the Church services. He wished to know 
the reason. He could see none. “ I have 
preached,” he declared, “ as forcefully as I ever 
did, I have proclaimed the latest Theology, the 
most modem Philosophy, and the latest theories of 
Science. What is the matter ? ” A few minutes 
later, as the ushers deposited the Offering, one of 
them handed the minister a note that was given 
him a moment before. The clergyman opened it 
and it contained this age-long question of the cul¬ 
tured Greeks, “ Sir, we would see Jesus.” It was 
a sharp rebuke. But it was the cry of a hungering 
world to feast its eye upon the glory and the beauty 
of the King of all mankind. The preacher learned 
the lesson and his former power returned with his 
returning vision of Jesus. This is still the call of 
the human soul. Yes, when the soul once sees 
Jesus, it is conquered. It surrenders. It gives up 
all and follows him. Its mind has rest and its 
heart is cleansed. 


SEEING JESUS 


43 


So do I ask myself, wliat is my big business in 
life ? Is it to build up a great Church ? To effect 
a big organization? To draw a Church full of 
people? No. Is it to preach about Jesus? His 
doctrines, His miracles, His death, or His resurrec¬ 
tion? No. All these are but auxiliaries. My one 
big task is to show Jesus, to help men to see Him. 
If I succeed in this, my life work, my life reward 
has been realized. If I fail in this, all else will 
not atone. 

Let us be honest then, and examine ourselves as 
a Church. Mr. Smith enters our Church to attend 
our ordinary Sunday Service. What does he see? 
A full Church? Yes. A fine large Choir? Yes. 
A Sociable congregation? Yes. And what else? 
Is that all? The benediction is pronounced—he 
leaves the Church. He is once more travelling his 
path of life. Let us be candid—he saw much that 
he admired and enjoyed. Yes, but did he see 
Jesusf His soul came to see the Master, he 
thirsted for a glimpse of Him, whether he knew it 
or not. Did he see Him? Did he catch the out¬ 
line of the Father looking down over His children, 
numbering the hairs of their heads and forgiving 
every last sin they ever committed ? Did he catch 
a flash of God stooping down over this sin-cleft, 
sorrow-riven, struggling old world and lifting it up¬ 
ward through the midnight dark of war and stress 
and strain ? Did he catch a glimpse of His grey 
dawn of victory, as it breaks over the waking heads 


44 


SEEING JESUS 


of the restless sons of men ? Did he see God watch¬ 
ing across the weary wastes of time for the home¬ 
coming sons of earth ? Did he see His outstretched 
arms bearing humanity along the upward way of 
final triumph? Did he see God, the Sovereign 
Ruler and the Loving Father of all mankind ? In 
short, did God become flesh for the moment and 
dwell among men? Then he saw Jesus. For, said 
the Master, “ He that hath seen me, hath seen the 
Father.” And likewise, he that hath seen the 
Father, hath seen Jesus. Hence, He declared, 
“ No one cometh unto the Father but by me.” Did 
that stranger see Jesus that Sunday in Central 
Church ? 

Oue Peesonal Influence 
And what about our 'personal influence? As 
Parents ? Our children see us through and through. 
But, in so doing, do they see Jesus? Or do they 
see only his garments or his shadow ? Do they be¬ 
hold in us the strong, gentle, loving, pure Christ- 
like spirit? In the Church what does the world 
see? Just Church members, Officers, Committees, 
Organizations? Or do they discern in us the very 
body of Christ, for such we are supposed to be. A 
little girl said to her mother, “ I like my Sunday- 
school teacher because she makes me see Jesus.” 
What a compliment! Think, dear Sunday-school 
teacher, of your high calling. And, 0, be sure you 
are striving to reach the goal that teacher won! 
For nothing short of that will do. 


SEEING JESUS 


45 


And Church members what of our daily lives? 
When non-professing and unchurched people are in 
our presence, is their worldliness rebuked? Are 
they stimulated to a higher life ? Many of t^em do 
not pray. Do we stimulate them to pray? Many 
of them do not attend Church. Is there an urge 
from our lives leading them to attend? Does our 
faith bestir them to a larger faith? They see our 
daily life, our disposition, our temperament, our 
ideals, our methods, our dealings. Do they detect 
through these the features of the Master ? Do they 
catch from our presence the tang of the Lord’s 
presence? They may or may not be conscious of 
it. It matters little. The great question is, when 
the world sees us, does it discern Jesus? If it does, 
we stand on holy ground, and angels might well 
envy our place in the Universe. Sometime ago a 
minister’s telephone rang as he was retiring for the 
night. A voice rang out—“ Is that Dr. Gibson ? ” 
“ Yes,” was the reply. “ Alright,” rejoined the 
speaker at the other end of the line, “ this is Cole¬ 
man, I’ll see you later.” A few months afterward, 
Dr. Gibson asked Mr. Coleman why on earth he 
rang off so soon. Coleman answered significantly, 
“ My object was gained, and I was in a hurry. 
When I called you, I was undergoing the most ter¬ 
rific temptation of my life—a business deal. My 
future seemed to lie in the balance between right 
and wrong. I prayed for help, a voice replied ‘ call 
up Gibson.’ I did. As soon as I heard your voice, 



46 


SEEING JESUS 


it was all over. I felt I was safe. So I hurried 
back and decided for the right.” Think of it, my 
dear friends, some one prays for help, and a voice 
from heaven says, u Call up Jones in Central 
Church.” What a priesthood is human life when 
the Lord of all the earth can be seen, heard and 
touched through us. 

Through the witness of His Church, and by the 
Redeeming love of God the whole earth shall finally 
see Jesus. For we read, “ And every eye shall see 
Him.” Every eye in America, in Europe, in Asia, 
and in all the world. But more, “ And they that 
pierced Him” shall see Him. Pilate, Judas, the 
murderous Pharisees and the Homan soldiers. 
Every man that died a stranger to Him. Voltaire 
and Ingersoll and every sceptic that ever doubted 
Him. Every friend and foe, Christian and pagan. 
What a sight! “ Every eye shall see him, and they 
that pierced Him.” And then “ before Him every 
knee shall bow.” Then shall the world be one great 
family. And “ men shall brothers be.” And God 
will be their common Father. When? When 
“ every eye shall see Him.” 

Like Him 

Seeing Jesus is more than a mere exercise of 
mental vision. It is a condition of the soul. I can 
see anything in the world as I am like it. As a 
father I see as you do, because you are a father. 
For, as a father, I resemble you. So, we’ll one 


SEEING JESUS 


47 


day see Jesus because we’ll be like Him. “ It doth 
not appear what we shall be, but we know that 
when He shall be manifest, we shall be like Him, 
for we shall see Him as He is.” What it will be to 
see Jesus is beyond our power to understand. It 
passes our imagination. John says: “ When I saw 
Him, I fell at his feet as one dead.” It was too 
much for his soul still in the flesh to comprehend 
or endure. 

Chiefly Tiikough the Chuech 

The world is to see Jesus chiefly through His 
Church. “ Ye are the salt of the earth.” “ Ye are 
the light of the world.” “ Ye are my witnesses.” 
“ Go work in my vineyard.” u Go ye into all the 
world.” So spoke none other than the One whom 
the Greeks came to see and whom the world thirsts 
to see. Yes. That’s why these cultured men of 
Greece sought Jesus, not through the Scribes, not 
the Pharisees nor the Publicans, nor the Roman 
Governor, but through His followers, Philip and 
Andrew and the other disciples. So it is to this 
day. Men have long since tired of trying to see 
Jesus through Science, and Philosophy and Art, 
and Theology itself. They are coming, as these 
Greeks did, to the Church, to those who are called 
in His name, His Christian disciples. And to 
these the Master says, “ Let your light so shine.” 

So I ask the question, why are we enlarging our 
Church building? Why are we perfecting our or- 


48 


SEEING JESUS 


ganization? Is it that we may have a bigger and 
finer equipment? Is it to draw larger crowds, 
create a greater interest in our Church ? No. 
The reason is vastly deeper. That, with a better 
equipment, the rattle of machinery may be silenced, 
the forms of organization hidden, and that more 
and more our community, our city, or country and 
the world through Central Church may see Jesus. 
So be this our prayer, that, as a Church and as 
members, we may be Christ’s reflecting mirror, set¬ 
ting forth His beauty before the sons of men. 

Then will you join with me as we sing anew this 
hymn of reconsecration. 

“My faith looks up to Thee, 

Thou Lamb of Calvary, 

Saviour Divine: 

Now hear me while I Pray, 

Take all my guilt away, 

O let me from this day 
Be wholly Thine.” 


IV 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 

“ The length , and the breadth and the height of it are 
equal ”— Revelation 21:16. 

A ■ ^ HIS is the classic chapter on Heaven. Its 
main theme is the Hew City of God com- 
ing down from God out of heaven. A 
significant statement about this new dwelling-place 
of the Lord is found in our text,—that the length 
and the breadth and the height of it are equal. We 
have long since regarded the Hew City as a state 
of soul rather than a dwelling-place. The text, 
therefore, suggests to us the dimensions of the Re¬ 
deemed soul. 

First of all then there is its length. Length at 
once suggests a “ line ” Every soul has its linear 
measure. How far does it reach? The particular 
phase of the length that suggests itself to us is the 
“line” that occupies our talents as a life work. 
We ask a man what “ line ” he follows. That is 
to say, “ what is your business, your profession, or 
your trade ? ” Whatever it is, one thing is sure; 
we should see to it that its length is equal to the 
breadth and the height. 

In other words we should “ follow our own line.” 

49 



50* 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


The Lord never intended ns all to be farmers, or 
merchants, or physicians, or mechanics. But He 
has always intended that we should follow each his 
line and make the most of it. So make the most 
of your line. Put your soul into it. Make the big¬ 
gest success of it you possibly can. Do the biggest 
and best volume of business you can. Get up early 
and be on time. Be punctual and despatchful in 
all you do. Do your business on business princi¬ 
ples. Magnify the importance of your “ line.” 
Make it reach out more and more till it touches 
every home and individual in the community, if 
possible. Make your “ line ” as profitable as you 
reasonably can. Don’t stop with selling twenty 
thousand dollars’ worth of business a year; sell 
thirty or fifty thousand dollars’ worth, if you can. 
And don’t stop with two thousand dollars’ worth of 
profit a year; make three or five or ten thousand 
dollars’ worth, if you honestly can. Therefore, 
plan largely, advertise, increase your service, and 
your capacity and your methods. Stick to your 
own line, and make the most of it. A man a few 
weeks ago offered me double my present income, 
but my answer was, “ That is not my ‘ line,’ ” and 
there it had to end. 

But why this advice ? Because, if you follow it, 
you will be all the better Christian. Your soul has 
a length dimension that needs taking care of as well 
as its breadth and height dimensions. If you are 
content to stay just where you are in your business, 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


51 


so will you likely be content to stay just where you 
are in Church and religious matters. And that 
would mean retrenchment. Your soul is made up 
of what you do on Monday just as vitally as what 
you do on Sunday. Therefore, follow your “ line ” 
thoroughly. Jesus made carpentry a sacrament. 
He did the best possible workmanship. He turned 
out the finest and strongest kind of article. Not a 
piece left His hand half or under done. His public 
ministry never would have been such a success, if 
He hadn’t. Peter, James and John never would 
have made the apostles they were, had they not been 
the kind of fishermen they were. Paul would never 
have become the conquering Church founder he was, 
had he not been the kind of tent-maker he was. 
Therefore, let me urge you to go to your several 
“ lines ” of duty to-morrow morning with the same 
sense of Christian duty with which you came to 
this service to-day. Por, remember, that down at 
the bottom the duties of your “ line ” whether in 
office, workshop, home or school are just as sacred 
as those of prayer and praise. 

There is also the “ line ” of Thought. We ask 
a person, “ What is your line of thought ? ” It may 
be science. Then hie off to the woods and fields, 
and study the beauty and glory of God’s handiwork 
in nature. Or, perhaps, your “ line ” is Literature. 
Then browse among the hill-tops of the best literary 
productions of the ages. Follow your favourite 
poets and meditate upon your favourite themes. 


52 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


So on, all through the realm of history, art, music 
and all the other several branches of learning. The 
same is true of amusements. Here, too, we have 
our peculiar “ lines.” If your line is golf, play 
golf the very best you can. If baseball, get out of 
it all you can. And so on all along the way—fol¬ 
low your “ line ” of amusement and recreation so 
long as it serves to lengthen the dimension of your 
soul. Many souls are shrivelled from lack of these 
linear qualities, just because “ all work and no play 
makes Jack a dull boy.” 

Therefore, follow your “ line ” and make the 
most of yourself in this world’s affairs. Ninety 
per cent of the people at sixty-five years of age are 
dependent upon their friends or the State. And 
the same percentage never rise to the place God in¬ 
tended them to take. Why? Because they failed 
to develop the length dimension of their souls. 
There are “ diversities of operations.” Follow 
yours the best you know how. 

Now let us consider the breadth of the soul. 
The length is alright so far as it goes. But it does 
not go far enough. Because length without breadth 
means failure. Mathematicians tell us the axiom 
that a line is length without breadth. Theoretically 

this is workable; but logically it is impossible. For 

■ 

how is it possible for an object to have length with¬ 
out breadth? Length is really possible because 
there is breadth. Look at this pencil I hold in my 
hand, I place it on the pulpit. As soon as I let 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 53 

go, it falls. Why? Because it lacks sufficient 
breadth. 

Apply this to the soul, and we find it means that 
length without breadth is selfishness. It is like a 
bird trying to fly with one wing, or a man trying 
to walk with one leg. So a soul trying to get along 
with only its own line at the best can only limp 
its way through life. In short, mere length spells 
“ me,” while breadth spells “ others ” See how 
this has worked out in the lives of men. Take 
Cain. He had a great line. He was a successful 
farmer. But he had no place for his brother. He 
had no breadth. And the result was, he displeased 
God and slew his brother. And that is just what 
breadthless souls have been doing all down the ages. 
On the other hand there was Joseph. He developed 
himself till he rose next to the king; he became the 
first man of the land. He surely pushed his line 
to its limit. He was a soul with a genuine length. 
But he also had a place for others. In the hour of 
famine he was prepared to provide food for the 
multitudes. His great concern was about his 
father’s household. Thus his breadth honoured 
God and helped his brothers. And moreover his 
breadth was equal to his length. Coming to the New 
Testament, there was Dives. He became very rich. 
His length was great. But he did not see Lazarus 
starving at his very door. He died without breadth 
of soul, and he went straight to perdition. Once 
more, take the parable of the good Samaritan. The 


54 


THE SOUL'S DIMENSIONS 


Priest and the Levite were most successful in their 
line. They doubtless were reputed for their ability 
and diligence in looking after their u line.” 
They may indeed have been ecclesiastical experts, 
u known and read among men.” But they had not 
breadth enough to walk across the road to help an¬ 
other soul in pain. The Samaritan, no less success¬ 
ful in his line, was broad enough to he “ moved 
with compassion ” the instant his eye caught the 
situation. His breadth of soul made him forget for 
the time its length. So he crossed the road, poured 
in his oil, bound up the wounds, took care of his 
brother to the utmost of his power. What did Jesus 
say about this ? He told us to cultivate that kind 
of a soul. All this was about the second command¬ 
ment of Jesus, “ Love your neighbour as yourself 
Breadth of the soul should he equal to its length. 

How does this work out in your daily life? It 
means that while you are pushing your line as far 
as you can, do not forget the other fellow’s line. 
Here is the rub. Here is where we fall short. It 
is easy to make money. But it is not so easy to let 
our neighbours make it without any obstruction on 
our part. The commercial and industrial world 
has made far strides in its length. What inven¬ 
tions! What productions! What systems! The 
modern age stands amazed at the progress it has 
made. But it has been chiefly a linear progress. 
It has had altogether too little breadth to it. 
Standing on this platform a few months ago, a dis- 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 55 

tinguished labor secretary made the statement that 
after the war was over, a greater war would begin. 
In short, his explanation was that it would be a 
struggle whose object would be the broadening of 
all the lines of capital and labour. The employer 
will have to broaden out towards the welfare of his 
employee and likewise the employee towards the in¬ 
terests of his employer. It is just this narrowness 
among the nations of the earth that has set the 
world ablaze with war. No nation possessed the 
length of Germany in scientific and literary attain¬ 
ment. Her line surely went out “to the ends of 
the earth.” The nations of the earth sat at her feet 
to learn her wisdom. But no nation ever lived so 
abjectly void of breadth. In advancing her own in¬ 
terests, she paid little attention to the interests of 
other peoples. Small nations did not count, and 
treaties meant nothing when they stood in the way 
of her advancement. Thus for lack of breadth she 
plunged civilization into the bloodiest war it ha3 
ever known, and, in so doing, all but lost her own 
life. 

The same is true of religion. The Christian 
Church truly has been busy down the centuries ex¬ 
tending her “ line.” But what a history of nar¬ 
rowness. A historian estimates that no less than 
fifty millions have suffered martyrdom since the 
breadthless Pharisees crucified the Redeemer. And 
why ? An eye half open can see the answer. For 
centuries the Church claimed for herself entire au- 


56 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


thority in moral and spiritual things. Individual 
reason or conscience did not count. And then, after 
the Reformation, when denominationalism arose, 
what narrowness filled the air. But, thank God, 
this is passing away. One of the surest and biggest 
blessings now before us is the broadening of the 
Church’s soul. The Church already is approaching 
her breadth. Small communities all over the land 
have already come to their breadth and have united 
their denominations for one common worship 
and service. This was the mind of the Master. 
Hear him pray for the breadth of his disciples— 
“ that they may be one/’ And hear his last behest 
for breadth— “ go ye out into all the world.” His 
breadth was as great as his length. And he says, 
“ Follow me.” Let your Christian lives be so broad 
that they will u shine before men ” everywhere, in 
home, office, and workshop. Have a place in your 
soul for the needs and the creeds of others. And 
let your breadth grow on and on till it equal your 
length. Remember that wealth is length, but char¬ 
ity is breadth; that ability is length, but love 
is breadth; that talent is length, but service is 
breadth. 

And now for the height. Without height, of 
course, everything would be flat. This is the di¬ 
mension without which the physical world could not 
exist. Without it neither can the soul world exist. 
This third dimension means the soul’s upwardness 
toward God. Daniel had it, when daily he opened 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


57 


the windows three times toward Jerusalem. The 
psalmist possessed it when he sang: 

“ I to the hills will lift mine eyes 
Prom whence doth come my help.” 

Job had it when he declared —■“ Though He slay 
me, yet will I trust Him.” John had it, when he 
wrote—“ When He shall appear, we shall be like 
Him.” Paul possessed it, when he called the 
Church of Ephesus—“ unto the measure of the 
stature of the fulness of Christ.” Gaze at the 
height to which Jesus attained, when, from his 
eminence, he called us to love God with all our 
hearts. And note also not only the height of his 
ideal, but the height of his character — u Which of 
you convinceth me of sin ? ” He was “ tempted in 
all points * * * y e t without sin.” 

Not long ago, standing on Broadway, New York, 
watching men digging a foundation thirty feet 
below the surface, I asked, “ Why are you digging 
so deep ? ” “ Because we are going to build so 

high,” was the reply. They dug till they struck 
the rock. The ground was scarce, but the space 
overhead was unlimited. My friends, I have not 
much space on earth on which to build up my soul’s 
third dimension, but I own all the space between 
my soul and heaven. If we would build high, we 
must dig deep. Our foundation must be none other 
than the Bock of Ages that endureth forever. 
“ Other foundation can no man lay than that 
which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Nature 



58 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


seems to lay its premium upon this third di¬ 
mension. See the tree, the grain, the flower 
and the grass all lift their heads upward toward 
their Maker. The natural direction of the soul 
is also Godward. If we turn not heavenward, 
it is only because we are unnatural. “ My 
soul thirsteth for God, for the living God,” cried 
the Psalmist. Of course, it does. Give it half a 
chance and it will “ hunger and thirst after right¬ 
eousness.” Then dig deep, for you are building 
high. Dig till you rest upon the Pock of Ages, for 
you are building for eternity. Pemember you may 
reach the ends of the earth by your length and 
breadth, but you can never reach the Kingdom of 
God without your height. Your character, with its 
length and breadth, may stand the scrutiny of men 
for a time, but without height it cannot stand the 
eye of heaven for an instant. Character must be 
high enough to talk to God in prayer and to trust 
Him where it cannot prove Him. It must have 
altitude enough to commune with Him. It must 
have height enough to obey His behests and listen 
to His still small voice in the realm of conscience. 

Let me then measure your height this morning. 
Please stand with your back to the wall of God’s 
Word. Your soul’s experience is your height. 
You have been prosperous. I want to measure your 
soul. How high does it reach ? Please don’t stand 
on your toes. Does your soul with its money touch 
God? Does it thank Him every day for its pros- 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


59 


perity, for its health and its happiness ? Is it con¬ 
secrating its property to the glory of the Giver? 
Jesus saw that wealthy souls were so often not rich 
souls. They were paupers in height—souls with 
too often only two dimensions. And thus it was 
hard for them to enter the Kingdom. And yet it 
is all unnecessary—for riches used for the glory of 
Heaven grow high souls of the suhlimest type. 
Listen to Jesus: “ All mine are thine.” How far 
up do you reach ? “ All mine are thine.” How 

much of your possessions can you from your heart 
of hearts say is His? 

Or it may be you have never been favoured with 
much of this world’s goods. Yours has been more 
or less a struggle all the way to “ get along.” Yet 
what heights may he yours. Your hack to the wall, 
please. Listen: “ Having nothing, yet possessing 
all things.” “This is my beloved Son in whom I 
am well pleased ”—yet He “ hath not where to lay 
his head.” What heights! How high did you 
reach ? Having little, do you still possess the riches 
of soul? Are you wealthy in your faith, in your 
hope and in your love ? Can you lift up your heart 
and say, “ Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that 
is within me, bless His holy name” ? Can you look 
out above your meagre gifts of earth and sing the 
refrain of Job, “ I know that my Bedeemer liv- 
eth ” ? Can you still chant in the deep of your 
heart, “ The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not 
want”? Can you find sweet melody in the song 


60 


THE SOUPS DIMENSIONS 


of the apostle—I am persuaded that neither 
death, nor life, * * * shall be able to separate 
us from the love of God ” ? Can you follow him 
all the way up the steep ascent of Christian life and 
say with him, “ For me to live is Christ and to die 
is gain ” ? How high do you reach amid your ma¬ 
terial needs and shortcomings ? 

Or perhaps adversity has come to you. Your 
day of prosperity has been eclipsed by the night of 
sorrow or trial. Put your back to the Book of 
Books again, if you please. Let me gently ask you 
to measure the height of your bereaved and bur¬ 
dened soul. Do you still trust God ? Are you still 
loyal to Him? Or have you closed His word and 
stopped praying and given yourself over to doubts ? 
Or, do you trust and love God more than ever? 
Stand beside Job for a moment. Stripped of his 
possessions, his family and his health, Job had 
nothing left but his soul. But look up high till you 
see the snow-capped peak of his mountain soul. 
Hear his prayer echoing down over the Ages, “ The 
Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed 
be the name of the Lord.” What is your measure ? 
Or, look at our great Example. When His soul was 
“ exceeding sorrowful even unto death,” hear Him 
from His dizzy height breathing His calm submis¬ 
sion, “ Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be 
done.” And then behold Him take up the cross 
and bear it on to death and finally to His kingly 
crown. Sorrowing soul, what now is your measure ? 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


61 


I do not mean that you should have no sorrow or 
tears. O, no. That is as natural as the cloud and 
the night. But is your sorrow softened and are 
your tears sweetened by the deep inner peace from 
above that passeth all understanding? Are you 
able amid your sorrow and your tears to say, “ Not 
my will but Thine be done ” ? 

Now let me measure your character . Here is the 
wall: “ Let this mind be in you which was also in 
Christ Jesus.” Then, if you please, back up 
against the mind of Jesus. In your home. You 
know about how Jesus would act were He in your 
place in your home. As husband, wife, father, 
mother, son, daughter—be candid now—how do 
you measure up beside the Master of Men? In 
your business—how tall are you? Measured be¬ 
side your neighbour, I am sure you would not need 
to look up. But we are not measuring by our 
neighbour. We have just one standard. Will you 
let Jesus be your auditor? What will He write 
under your business records ? I see you stand be¬ 
hind your counter, in your office and in your work¬ 
shop, and I know the height of your body. But 
far more important, tell me as you stand there, 
what is the height of your soul? Your private life. 
Ah—here is the rub. It is known to just yourself 
and God. It makes little difference that the world 
does not know it. But your eternity depends upon 
what only you and God know. Be assured of this, 
however, that the world will sooner or later mea- 


62 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


sure your inner soul. It will sooner or later sense 
your height. If your inner private life has no 
height, the multitudes will soon detect it in your 
eye, your daily talk and walk. 

The height is the soul’s biggest asset. It was the 
dimension that Christ most emphasized. He came 
to renew it, to give it new life “ from above.” He 
came to lift it up, till it reached the Kingdom of 
Heaven. He came to refashion and develop it, till 
it reached the height of his own stature. It is the 
height of the soul that gives content to its length 
and breadth. For a soul without height is shallow 
and meaningless. However extended civilization 
may be, without the Godward height of its soul, it 
is forever shallow and unstable. It is thus not 
wealth nor learning we want so much as height of 
soul. Our country’s greatness is not our vast re¬ 
sources of field and lake and forest. No. It is 
the altitude of our National soul. The strongest 
force behind the United States is not our money, 
nor our guns, nor our material resource. No, it is 
the soul of a united citizenship who, trusting God, 
have set their faces upward and onward till they 
establish the flag of Christian Democracy upon 
the mountain top of world peace forever. It is, 
therefore, this upward dimension of the soul that I 
lay specially upon your hearts. 

Finally, so live that your growth of soul will be 
threefold. Let it be balanced with the equipoise 
of length and breadth and height. Then will your 


THE SOUL’S DIMENSIONS 


63 


lives possess the sweet harmony and the ordered 
beauty, the rich content and the splendid strength 
which the Saviour came to impart. The three are 
essential. To neglect one is to neglect the three. 
So, let us ever pray: 

** Give me a heart like Thine 
By Thy wonderful power, 

By Thy grace every hour. 

Give me a heart like Thine.’* 


Y 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 

" Cleanse Thou me from secret faults ”— Psalm 19, 23. 

F IRST of all, what does the Psalmist mean 
by “Secret faults”f We have faults 
known to ourselves, hut which are unknown 
to the world. The dear ones in our home know all 
about them. But the people down in the store, the 
shop, the school and on the street haven’t the least 
suspicion that we possess such faults. They would 
he surprised if anyone should hint such a thing. 
They say to each other, “ What an even-tempered 
man Mr. Jones is.” All the while Mrs. Jones 
would give them a surprise. His faults are 
hidden. 

Then we have faults which we know ourselves 
and which the outside also knows. But our loved 
ones at home know nothing of them. Men down¬ 
town speak of us with a tone of disrespect. Why ? 
They know our tendency to crookedness, or, per¬ 
haps, unchastity. And, all the while, our family 
are blissfully ignorant and unsuspecting. Finally, 
one day, as a thunderbolt from a Qlear blue sky, 
the secret is out and the home is shocked beyond 
expression. 


64 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


65 


But it is not these secret faults the 'psalmist 
means. They are the faults of which he himself 
is unconscious. They are faults which others may 
or may not see, but which God always beholds. We 
see them in others. There is not a man we know 
quite well but has them. He is perhaps selfish, or 
rude, or unforgiving, or complaining, or cynical, 
or crooked, and yet he himself does not suspect it. 
Even in your home you can see faults in your dear 
ones; every one of them, of which they are entirely 
oblivious. You see faults in your neighbours they 
never dream they possess. Perhaps, they are just 
peculiar, or they don’t attend church, or they talk 
too loud, or they keep a cross dog, or indulge in 
over-late hours, or neglect their children. But they 
are totally ignorant of any one of these faults. 
Well, if you can see faults in your neighbours and 
your family which they cannot see themselves, 
surely it is more than likely you have faults which 
you cannot see, but which others very readily see. 
And, above all, surely God, who made you, can see 
flaws which no man, not even you yourself, can 
see. 

Our very nature tells the story. Does not the 
Psalmist say that we are “ born and shapen in 
iniquity ” ? And does not the Prophet Isaiah de¬ 
clare that “ all we like sheep have gone astray ” ? 
Psychology says the subconscious mind contains 
vastly more of human life than does the conscious 
mind. It is like the iceberg; much more is sub- 


66 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


merged than appears above the surface. When 
crossing the Atlantic, the captain of our ship 
pointed out to us the place where the Titanic went 
down. He showed us how far the visible part of 
the iceberg was from the invisible portion which 
the great liner struck. Soon one of these gigantic 
fields of ice loomed in the distance. On being asked 
why he kept so far from it, the captain answered, 
“ because there is usually a greater field below the 
surface, which no eye can see.” Yes, there is a 
vast deal more of good in all of us than even we 
ourselves have ever dreamed existed there. And 
there is also vastly more evil in the best of us than 
we ever thought was there. Shakespeare says of 
man, “ How like a God! ” and the Psalmist de¬ 
clares he is “ a little lower than God.” True, but 
Scripture avows on the other hand that the “ heart 
is deceitful and above all things desperately 
wicked.” Paul is recognized as the Church’s great¬ 
est Apostle. Yet he spoke of himself as the Chief 
of sinners. Why ? Doubtless because he saw 
deeper into his soul than most of us do. 

We often surprise ourselves. Every now and 
then we are surprised at some foolish, or evil thing 
we think, or say, or do. We find ourselves unex¬ 
pectedly giving way to some doubt or temptation 
which we thought ourselves above. Why? Some 
secret fault is there, and we know it not. 

What is the trouble f We don't know ourselves . 
If we knew the weak spots on the house where the 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


67 


burglar might easily enter, we would at once fortify 
it. So, if we knew every weak place in our souls, 
we would strengthen it. It was for this reason that 
Socrates proclaimed to the world his dictum, 
“ Know thyself.” 

The next difficulty is that we love ourselves too 
much . And you know love is blind. How sensitive 
we are to a compliment paid us. We roll it under 
our tongue as a sweet morsel. It never occurs to 
us that possibly it is not true. You have said many 
kind things to me about my Sermons. And I al¬ 
ways think you are the most truthful people on 
earth. It never comes to my mind that I am really 
unworthy of such eulogies. On the other hand, 
how sensitive we are to criticism. One evening 
Mr. and Mrs. White dropped into your home. In 
a little while one of them remarked, “ Did you hear 
the latest?” “ Why, no; what is it?” “ Well, 
you must keep it quiet.” “ 0, surely! Don’t be 
afraid, just—go ahead!” A most interesting 
neighbourhood seance then takes place. The next 
evening Mr. and Mrs. Black called. They are 
somewhat restless. Finally, Mr. Black comes to 
the point and tells you he has heard some rumours 
about you. Soon you are the angriest man in town. 
Just to think that anyone could say or even think 
such a thing about you. The point is, you were 
ready to believe the gossip about your neighbour, 
but resented anyone thinking such a thing about 
you. Why ? You had so much higher estimate of 


68 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


your own character than you had of your neigh¬ 
bour’s. Your own fault was hidden from you, but 
not your neighbour’s. 

Self-pride sometimes hides our faults from us. 
There were the Pharisees. They thanked God 
they were not as other men, extortioners, etc. All . 
the while they were totally blind to worse sins than 
these in themselves. Jesus saw it and called them 
“ hypocrites ” and u vipers.” If they had seen 
their secret faults, they never would have rejected 
Jesus. Take it into our homes. Your wife says 
to you, “ Dear, you are so vindictive; you are al¬ 
ways on the alert to defend yourself in such petty 
things.” And you are at once offended. You at 
once rise to defend yourself. You have been 
wronged. You are not vindictive; you are posi¬ 
tively sure of that. What’s the matter ? Your self¬ 
pride has blinded you to your secret fault. We go 
home from Church, and we begin to criticize some¬ 
thing someone did, and we are absolutely blind to 
the fact that that very person could pick a dozen 
holes in us, and, all the while, we are blissfully 
ignorant of one of them. All just because we have 
too much self-pride to think w r e are guilty of such 
things. The other day a couple came to my study 
to see whether I could help them to adjust their 
home differences. I soon saw they were both to 
blame, that each could see the other’s faults, but 
not each his own. It was only when I succeeded 
in getting each to see his “ secret faults ” that an 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


69 


agreement was finally reached. No wonder the 
Scottish bard sang: 

“ Would some power the giftie gie us. 

To see ourselves as others see us.” 

And no wonder the Psalmist prayed, 

“ Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.” 

Then, again, habit often hides our faults from 
us. I am told that the residents at Niagara Falls 
practically do not hear the Falls any more. When 
a student in Toronto, I lived at Knox College. 
Those of you who know that city remember that 
the street cars pass around the old college on either 
side. When I first returned each autumn, I was 
disturbed at nights by the screeching sound of the 
cars. But, not long after, I awoke one night from 
a sound sleep. What had happened? The cars 
had stopped running. You remember that act 
which disturbed you when first you did it? It is 
now a habit, and now not a twinge of disturbance. 
It has become a secret fault. You are no longer 
aware of the fault. The “ fault-ness ” is gone. 
You neglected one night to pray. And it bothered 
you a little. The next time it bothered you less. 
Now, you don’t pray at all. And you are not dis¬ 
turbed about it. As a fault it has disappeared, 
hidden under the prayerless habit. You remem¬ 
ber how regularly you used to attend Church. One 
day, you didn’t come. The next Sunday, company 
came, and you stayed away again. And you were 


70 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


sorry you missed the Services. Yes, but you kept 
on staying away, and finally you got the “ stay- 
away” habit. And now it seldom costs you a 
thought. Why? Under the mantle of your habit 
your fault has become hidden from your very self. 
And most of our secret faults have become thus 
hidden from our view. 

Custom is another hiding-place for our secret 
faults. What everybody does we accept as right. 
We go with the multitude. When the crowd does 
anything, there is no one to find fault. And so the 
fault is hidden. You remember how the throng 
cried, “ Crucify Him!” and Jesus was forthwith 
crucified. Hor was there a sense of injustice or 
wrong done. A few centuries ago thousands of 
witches were put to death without the slightest 
justification. Yet no one was conscious of any in¬ 
justice done, for it was the custom to burn 
witches. 

In the days preceding the Civil War it was the 
custom in the South to own slaves. And, so, few 
in that great section of the Union felt there was 
anything wrong in slave-trafficking. Their fault 
was hidden under the cloud of witnesses in favour 
of it. 

The same is true of the Brink custom. I well 
remember when a mere lad how an officer in the 
Church could become intoxicated, and few think 
anything of it. A man of eighty told me once that 
in his young days intoxication was not considered 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


71 


out of place. Why ? Because men everywhere 
drank to excess. The fault of it all was hidden in 
the custom. 

You attend a Theatre . You hear or see some¬ 
thing that perhaps shocks your sense of propriety. 
But the next morning the press extols it; you find 
all your friends who attended also eulogized it. 
What happens? Your criticism has likely faded 
from your view, lost under the approval of the 
multitude. And all the while it was wrong. But 
now you have joined the crowd in setting your seal 
of endorsement upon what was improper. It has 
become in your soul a secret fault. 

Or think for a minute of the modern Dance. 
Custom places its approval upon certain dances 
that, apart from custom, would be considered alto¬ 
gether improper, if not immoral. And yet Society 
engages in them without any sense of wrong. 
Why? The fault has become submerged in the 
restless waters of custom. The same is true of 
dress. Immodesty and freakishness are buried be¬ 
neath the universal fashion. Every five minutes a 
home is broken up and a marriage tie is annulled 
in the United States by divorce. And yet the pub¬ 
lic goes on with little, if any, sense of the terrific 
wrong that is being enacted at the very roots of our 
American life. Hot long ago a lady in one of our 
neighbouring cities paid for a string of pearls 
$835,000.00, and on that very day five million 
precious mortals w r ere literally starving to death in 


72 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


Russia and the Rear East for lack of funds to pro¬ 
vide them food. But the average citizen read of 
the purchase without any sense of the tremendous 
fault that lay hidden beneath it all. Do you know 
that last year the people of the United States spent 
no less than $5,000,000,000 on luxuries alone, and 
only $50,000,000 to Christianize that half of the 
earth that has not yet heard the name of the world’s 
Redeemer. And yet Christian America is totally 
unconscious of this far-reaching fault. The work 
of the Church is to uncover to the sons of men their 
secret faults. By this means has civilization pro¬ 
gressed. And only by this means will it continue. 

The secret faults of the human heart are the 
most perilous of all faults. You recall that Jesus 
said it was these faults that kept so many out of 
the Kingdom. Did we not do many mighty works 
in thy name, they ask? Yes, said the Lord, but 
“ inasmuch as ye did it not unto the least of these, 
my brethren, ye did it not unto me.” They had 
never been conscious of this failure. It was a 
secret fault. And it shut them out of the Kingdom 
of Heaven. 

Yes, these secret faults insidiously consume our 
spiritual strength and obstruct our soul’s strength 
and happiness. Professor Drummond, in his 
“ Tropical Africa,” tells us of the White Ants. 
How, all unseen and unheard, they destroy the in¬ 
ternal part of the wood out of which the huts are 
made. Finally, when least expected, the timber 


OUE SECRET FAULTS 


73 


collapses and the hut falls. How true is this of 
our secret faults. Invisibly and noiselessly they 
eat at the vitals of the heart. One day under temp¬ 
tation we unexpectedly give way. And we wonder 
why. 

Our Christian life is perhaps at a standstill . We 
are making no progress. And we are troubled 
about it. What is the matter ? One night last sum¬ 
mer my automobile stopped suddenly and unex¬ 
pectedly. It was in the forests of the Adirondacks. 
I examined everything that I thought might he out 
of order. But I could find nothing wrong. One 
thing I knew: there was a secret fault somewhere 
hidden from my knowledge. The next day a mo- 
chanic found the fault, corrected it, and I was soon 
on my way of progress again. If you are not grow¬ 
ing in the spirit and likeness of our blessed Lord, 
you may know there is a fault somewhere and that 
you will never advance till it is removed. Then, 
may yours be the prayer of our text, “ Cleanse 
Thou me from secret faults.” 

Our happiness is often dampened by our secret 
faults . You have perhaps wondered with all your 
good health and unchecked prosperity why you are 
not really happy. The time David had trouble 
about the ark he lost his happiness. Like a 
wounded lark his song was rarely heard. His soul 
was unhappy through the livelong days and nights. 
He cried to the Lord, “ Restore unto me the joy 
of thy salvation.” The sweet singer of Israel did 


74 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


not really know that his trouble was in his disobedi¬ 
ence somewhere to the will of God. You remember 
how unhappy Martha seemed to be? And she did 
not know till her Master told her that a secret fault 
was the cause of it, that she was “ cumbered about 
many things.” Yes, my friends, under ordinary 
circumstances, we should all be very happy, and, 
if we are not, it is more than likely there is a secret 
fault somewhere. Otherwise, why did Jesus say, 
u Rejoice and be exceeding glad ” ? 

Then there is our influence. Perhaps you have 
asked, Why does my influence count for so little? 
I press the electric button, but no light or power 
follows. Why? I do not know just why. But 
I do know there is a fault somewhere. On exami¬ 
nation the electrician finds some foreign substance 
has separated the points of contact. The secret 
fault is removed and the power is renewed. Not 
long ago a lady came to my study to speak with 
me about her husband. For some time she had put 
forth every effort to interest him in religious mat¬ 
ters, but without success. After much questioning 
I placed my finger on what seemed to be the weak 
spot. It took some persuasion to convince her that 
the fault was within herself. Finally, she was con¬ 
vinced, and forthwith went out to “ cleanse ” her¬ 
self from the secret fault A month later she re¬ 
ported, with the greatest delight, that her desire for 
her husband was realized. Her secret fault had 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


75 


discounted her personal influence and she knew it 
not. 

How often our secret faults curtail our influence 
in the home . We wonder why our children seem 
to disregard our best endeavours. And all the 
while some unconscious fault stands between us and 
them. It may he our constant worry over trifles 
or our over-anxiety for the clothes we wear and the 
food we eat. Or it may he a hateful, revengeful or 
unforgiving spirit. Or it may he a wanton neglect 
of Church and religious observance. Or, perhaps, 
it is a tendency to deal a little below the normal 
standards of downright honour in business matters. 
And all the while we are totally ignorant of the 
fault. 

Sunday-school teacher, what of your influence 
over your class? Is it bearing precious fruit for 
the Kingdom ? Can you discern your boys or girls 
growing in the knowledge and grace of our Lord 
and Saviour? Are they developing in the cardinal 
virtues of the Christian Faith ? If not, don’t blame 
them; look down deep and see whether or not there 
is a secret fault that is keeping the Spirit of God 
from flowing out through you into their young 
lives. 

And, Church members, how much is your life 
counting among your friends and neighbours ? Do 
you exert an impelling Christian prestige among 
them ? Are you able to lead them outward and up¬ 
ward into higher realms of Spiritual Thought and 


76 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


Desire? If not, they are perhaps not to blame as 
much as you. Something all unseen to you is 
wrong. A secret fault somewhere is weakening 
your moral influence. You are anxious, but you 
are running secretly handicapped. 

Our secret faults, and not our conscious ones, 
should be our chief concern. Could we for a mo¬ 
ment catch a glimpse of our hidden faults, we 
should better understand why God became flesh and 
in Christ bore away the sins of the world. 

This brings me to say that only the Blessed 
Saviour can cleanse us from our secret faults. For 
they are so many and so deep-rooted. They are 
like the poisonous root-stocks of a garden. Mere 
plucking them up would be impossible. For, like 
weeds, they infest the garden of the heart. That 
is why God gave His only begotten Son that the 
infested hidden soil of the soul might be entirely 
cleansed from above. That’s why at the Saviour’s 
birth the angel said, “ Thou shalt call His name 
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” 
That’s why the great Forerunner cried, “ Behold 
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world.” That’s why we ever sing: 

“ There is a Fountain filled with blood 
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins, 

And sinners plunged beneath that flood, 

Lose all their guilty stains.” 

That is why we pray to-day, as never before, 
“ Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.” “ Search 


OUR SECRET FAULTS 


77 


me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know 
my thoughts: and see whether there be any wicked 
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” 

Let us turn the white light of Christ’s pure char¬ 
acter upon our inmost souls. It will reveal to us 
our hidden faults. Just as when a glass of what 
seems perfectly pure water is placed between us 
and the bright sun, a thousand impurities are seen. 
Let ns carefully and steadily hold up our daily 
experiences toward our Perfect Example that the 
snow-white rays of His perfect life may stream 
down through our every thought. What a revela¬ 
tion ! Then into His precious presence. And there 
abide in Him till every secret fault is gone. 


VI 


MORE THAN OTHERS 

“ What do ye more than othersf ”— Matthew 5:47. 

T HIS is a searching inventory question, 
surely appropriate for the first service 
of the New Year. It is a question Jesus 
asked the multitude. We may well ask ourselves 
the same question to-day, especially at this time 
of the year when business establishments every¬ 
where are making an inventory. Their standards 
are dozens, pounds and yards. The standard that 
Jesus was most interested in was the standard of 
the soul that deals with these outward measures of 
value. 

The Jews at this time were very content with 
themselves. They were living according to the 
standards of tradition. They were satisfied if they 
lived up to the Law delivered by Moses long be¬ 
fore. They divided the world into Jews, who were 
saved, and Gentiles, who were lost. Then they 
divided themselves into the religious class, the 
Pharisees and the Scribes, and the worldlings, the 
publicans and sinners. As a religious class they 
were thoroughly satisfied with themselves, that they 

were living just about right: but Jesus came to 

78 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


79 


them and said, “ Your standard belongs to the cen¬ 
turies ago, but I have a standard for you which is 
greater than this ancient one; you must live up to 
it. The standard that you are now living by is 
that which is adopted by the publicans and sinners, 
the moral outcasts of society.” 

Of course, the people who listened to Christ were 
astonished, but He went on to say, “ If you love 
only those that love you, what reward have you ? ” 
Do not even the publicans the same? Remember 
these publicans were the worldlings, the non-Church 
members and non-Church-goers. How this must 
have pained the listeners, for they despised the pub¬ 
licans. You remember the Pharisee who said that 
he thanked God that he was not like the publican 
nearby. 

Jesus told them that if they did good only to 
those who did good to them, they were on the level 
with the men that never darkened the door of the 
Church and made no profession whatever of re¬ 
ligion. And, further, that if they loaned only to 
those from whom they expected favour, they were 
no better than moral outcasts, and that, if they 
saluted only those of their own household, they 
were no better than the beggar at their door. 

Jesus had a higher standard for them. While 
the world does not love its enemies, they must. 
While the world refuses to do good to those who 
do not deserve it, they must. Jesus assured them 


80 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


that He came not to destroy the statutes of Moses, 
but to bless them—to fill them to the full. 

Let us see what our inventory of the past year 
has been and, like business concerns, let us make 
our inventory that we may take from it, or add to 
it, or change it, for the improvement of the new 
year. 

In our National life, what did last year bring 
to us more than the year before ? It brought a half 
a billion dollars worth more of corn, a hundred and 
fifty-four million dollars worth more of wheat, and 
so we might go on down the list. It was certainly 
a year above most other years in the matter of 
wealth and plenty. Compared with the Nations 
of Europe, while they have been starving, we have 
had plenty. We have sufficient wheat for ourselves 
and two hundred million bushels to spare for other 
peoples. The world finds us on this New Year’s 
Sunday the creditor of the Nations. Our currency 
is at a premium among other peoples, while theirs 
is at a discount with us. 

While we thank our blessed Lord for the pros¬ 
perity that has come to us, let us give Him all the 
glory, for He alone is worthy of it. It is our duty 
as a nation to work with one common cheer and 
hope and zeal for the enlargement of His Kingdom 
and the blessing of His children on earth. 

And now for an inventory of ourselves as indi¬ 
viduals. As a matter of fact, Nations and Churches 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


81 


are usually higher in their standards of living than 
the individuals that comprise them. 

One of the great difficulties is that, like chil¬ 
dren, we are imitators. We are very apt to do just 
what others do. We are so prone to he satisfied 
so long as we do as well as our neighbours. How 
often we hear it said by a man, when asked to be¬ 
come a member of the Church,—“ I am just as 
good as my neighbours, and in fact I am just a3 
good as Church members are.” Indeed this may 
he true, and too often it is true that non-members 
are just as good as Church members. Yes, too true. 
But let me say this to you, my brother, that if now, 
as a non-Church member you are as good as the 
Church members, when you become a Church mem¬ 
ber, you will be better than the Church members 
are. 

In particular, coming to the question of amuse¬ 
ments, there is the objectionable dance. Many 
Church members will say, “ I know that that dance 
is really improper, that it is indecent, hut every¬ 
body is dancing it, and why shouldn’t I ? ” Here 
comes the word of the Master, “ What more do ye 
than others? Ho not even the publicans and sin¬ 
ners the same ? ” 

Then there is the Sunday question. “ My 
neighbours golf and play cards and attend theatres 
on Sunday. Why should not I too ? ” You forget 
you are a Church member and that more is ex¬ 
pected of you than those who have never named the 


82 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


name of the Lord of the Sabbath. When you do 
these things, you are certainly no better than the 
worldling and Churchless, Godless people who care 
not for the Lord’s Day or what it stands for. So 
far as this is concerned, indeed, you are no better 
than the moral outcast in the lower parts of the 
city, for to them also Sunday is but a day of recrea¬ 
tion and a “ good time.” 

As to Church attendance, the Churchless moral 
outcasts down in the lower lanes of the land spend 
their Sundays sitting about smoking, reading the 
newspapers, sewing or baking, or building, or tend¬ 
ing to business, or riding in automobiles. And yet 
this morning there are hundreds of our Church 
members in Buffalo doing the same. What better 
are they than the publicans and sinners, for do not 
these the same ? “ What more do ye than others ? ” 
We have a number of such members in Central 
Church. This very moment you would find them 
engaged at this hour of Service in just such worldy 
things as we have mentioned. I have no objection 
whatever to men smoking and reading the news¬ 
paper on Sunday or taking their families or friends 
for an automobile ride. I have no objection to the 
housewife doing such things as are necessary in the 
home, but let not these things be done at the ex¬ 
pense of the soul by robbing you of the benefits of 
public worship. 

Then take 'prayer. Publicans and sinners have 
no family altar. The moral street vagrants of 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


83 


Buffalo have no family altar. Tlie unchurched 
heads of homes have no family altar. Have you? 
It was found in a large gathering of Church mem¬ 
bers not long ago that only ten per cent of them 
worshipped as families in their homes. So far as 
the family altar is concerned, what more do ye than 
others, even publicans and sinners? 

Or take private prayer . Some time ago a friend 
of mine lodged in a place where nine persons re¬ 
tired to rest. Only one out of the nine prayed. 
If you had been there, would you have prayed be¬ 
fore retiring? The ordinary godless man of the 
land rarely prays. How do you answer the Mas¬ 
ter’s question in this respect ? “ What do ye more 
than others ? ” 

Or take Church work. I am not speaking now 
of those who cannot through circumstances, do 
Church work, but those who can. There is the man 
outside the Church. He does no Church work. 
There is the man sitting at the gambling table. He 
does no Church work. Do you do Church work? 
“ What more do ye than others ? ” “ Do not the 

publicans and sinners the same ? ” 

As to your contributions to the Church. The 
man of the world, who cares nothing for Church, 
goes to the theatre and pays to hear the actor he 
likes and see the picture he enjoys. He goes on 
the principle of simply paying for what he gets. 
When you contribute to the Church, is it just be¬ 
cause you hear the choir and the preacher you like ? 


84 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


In other words, “ what do ve more than others ? 99 
What a test it is when we place our lives up against 
this searching question of Christ. It would almost 
seem to us at times that we could scarcely call our¬ 
selves Christians. 

Look a little more closely and let us test our¬ 
selves a little more fundamentally. How does this 
question appeal to you socially ? * * * We all 
have enemies. Every Church member has enemies. 
Every minister has his enemies. The fact is that, 
had we no enemies, we might well ask ourselves the 
question whether we are doing just what the Mas¬ 
ter wants us to do regardless of what others think. 
For, do we not read, “ Woe unto you when all men 
shall speak well of you ? ” There is no harm what¬ 
ever in having enemies. The harm is in how we 
deal toward them. This is the searching question. 
Do we fight them? That is what the prize fighter 
would do. Do we return evil for evil? That is 
what the lowest thug in the city would do. Do we 
hate them ? That is what even the devils would do. 
Do we hold a grudge against them? A common 
outcast would do that. Do we wait our opportunity 
to get even with them ? That is just what the vilest 
sinner in Buffalo would do. Let us come now 
right up to the question of the text once more, 
“ What do ye more than others?” “ Do not even 
the publicans and sinners the same ? ” Perhaps 
you deal toward your enemies in a little more of 
a refined attitude. You treat them very cool. You 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


85 


just “ don’t speak to them.” When you do speak 
about them, you are ready to knock them. Some¬ 
one wants you to make up with him, and you say, 
“ Never—not till he comes to me and apologizes.” 
Yes, that is just the way thieves and robbers and 
highwaymen do. That is just the way the outlaws 
of Russia and Mexico do. That is just the way the 
Turks and Bedouin Arabs act. Just be honest and 
ask yourself the question, “ What do ye more than 
these publicans and sinners ?” And sad to relate 
to-day, all over this land, there are tens of thou¬ 
sands of Church members who carry out this un- 
Christian spirit. 

At this first New Year’s Sabbath it is time to 
throw away this pagan spirit as refuse of the soul 
and trample it under foot as a thing to be despised 
and rejected of men. 

Further, take our hospitality. We were all kind 
during the Christmas season. O how generous and 
real kind we were,—but to whom were we kind? 
To our friends, of course, and why not? But did 
we stop there? That is where the pagans and the 
outcasts of all the world stop. They are good to 
their friends, every one of them. Did we excel 
them in our kindness to our friends, or did we hear 
the call of the hungry poor of our city and the 
starving millions across the sea? Did we have the 
spirit of that elder of our Church who, hearing the 
cries of the anguished needy across in Europe, gave 
a dollar for every dollar given by the Sunday- 


86 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


school Department over which he presides. That 
means Christian character, outstanding, clear-cut, 
like unto Christ. Down over the centuries, hear 
the words of our blessed Lover of men, when He 
said, “ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it 
unto me.” 

Then there is the question of Prohibition. 
Where do you stand as to the abolition of the 
saloon? Multitudes of good people half a century 
ago deplored the passing away of slavery. In that 
respect they were no better than the greedy pluto¬ 
crat who bought and sold human lives. The anti¬ 
prohibitionists, the cutthroats and thugs, and the 
drunken libertines of our land are against prohibi¬ 
tion. Are you ? If so,—“ What do ye more than 
these publicans and sinners ? ” 

Then take the great question of Industry. Chris¬ 
tian employer, is there any difference between you 
and the hard flint godless employer across the 
road? He gives his employee good wages. So 
do you. He requires but fair hours of work. 
So do you. He treats his workers courteously. So 
do you. But is that all ? He treats his employees 
merely as so many hired hands. Do you? His 
first consideration is how much he can get out of 
them. Is that yours too? He does not pay them 
the best possible wages consistent with fair profits. 
Do you? He does not provide them with clean, 
bright, wholesome, sanitary working conditions. 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


87 


Do you? He is not concerned about their pros¬ 
perity and comfort and happiness outside his fac¬ 
tory. Are you ? If not, you are no better than the 
soulless selfish industrial publicans and sinners. 

And you, employee, are you no better than the 
hireling who merely works for his wage and who 
has no other concern than just how much com¬ 
pensation he can get for the work of his brain and 
hand? If so, you are no better than the pagan 
labourer in the dark interior of China. Yea, more, 
you are no better in the sight of Heaven than the 
heathen who works just because he has to work, 
and that without any consideration of what good 
he can do to humanity through his labours. Come 
right up to the question, and ask yourselves and 
answer the question of the Master of Industry, 
“ What more do ye than these industrial publicans 
and sinners who are exploiting the labour of their 
hands for just what they can get out of it? ” 

Let us look for a moment into the home. Down 
in the lower parts of our great city where the name 
of God is never mentioned in worship, and where 
the Church is never thought of, you will hear in 
many a home the crossfire of husbands and wfives. 
You will hear the unbridled temper of the husband 
making the air hideous and you will hear the turbu¬ 
lent nagging of the wife. Christian husbands and 
wives, members of the Church of the blessed Lord, 

* 

come let us face this question of Christ and answer 
it honestly,—“ What do ye more than these ? ” 


88 


MORE THAN OTHERS 


And on we might go through all the ranks of 
human life. And when we have answered this 
great searching question of the Master on this first 
Sunday of the New Year, and when we have looked 
the answer squarely in the face, perhaps we are not 
surprised at the retort: “ I am as good as the 
Church members.” There is altogether too much 
truth in it. 

Starting out on this New Year, let us take to 
ourselves the Master Key of Jesus when He said 
to His chosen disciples nineteen centuries ago, 
“ Let your light so shine before men, that they may 
see your good works and glorify your Father which 
is in heaven.” 0, my friends, let us so live, let 
us so walk, let us so talk and let us so think that 
the world will take knowledge of us that we have 
been with Jesus and have learned of Him. Let 
there be around us such a Christ atmosphere that 
when the sons of men are in our company they will 
detect something of the spirit of the Master of men, 
the Spirit that is just “ different ” from the non- 
Christian others. 


VII 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


“ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 
—Genesis 1:1. 

“ Behold, 1 make all things new ”— Revelation 21:5. 


T 


HE old belief that God made the world 
and completed it in six ordinary days re¬ 
sembles the question of intemperance—it 
is fast becoming a thing of the past. In the begin¬ 
ning God created the materials out of which He 
has ever since been making His world. The his¬ 
tory of the Bible, nature, civilization, shows this 
very conclusively. 

The light of modern scientific discovery serves 
but to conform such a statement. Take, for exam¬ 
ple, what the French chemist Becquerel, in 1896, 
brought to this truth when he discovered radio¬ 


activity. He found that radium continuously gives 
off radiations at an enormous rate, with no per¬ 
ceptible change in the amount of energy within the 
element itself. Other elements it is found act in 
a similar manner. In my college days I was taught 
that atoms were the units of matter, capable of no 
further analysis or subdivision. Now we find that 
in radiation much finer units called electrons are 

thrown off, 1,760 times smaller than the hydrogen 

89 



90 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


atom, the lightest of all known atoms. We are told 
now, that matter is made up of atoms and electrons. 
If electrons are radiated from a substance which in 
turn loses no energy, whence does the radiating 
substance get its undiminshed supply of energy ? 
If from the sun, whence does the sun get its sup¬ 
ply ? Radio-activity thus at least substantiates the 
splendid law of the conservation of matter. And 
it still holds true that energy is coming from some 
source and is being conserved by some source on 
which science cannot yet place its finger and for 
which philosophy has yet no explanation. It re¬ 
mains for theology to answer the question with our 
text. “ In the beginning God created the heavens 
and the earth.” In this connection it is interesting 
to note just here the recent statement of George 
McCready Price, an American Professor of Chem¬ 
istry, “ The matter of our world must have had an 
origin at some time in the past wholly different in 
degree and different in kind from any process going 
on around us that we call a natural process.” Sig¬ 
nificantly, the professor confesses there is no ex¬ 
planation but the words of our text. 

In making His world, it is evident that God has 
not created any substance since the point of time 
mentioned in our text, “ In the beginning.” Every 
evidence goes to show that since then God has been 
building up His world—“ Behold, I make all 
things new.” He has been building up new forms 
from the original substance. For example, there 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


91 


is no more truth as a moral substance than “ in the 
beginning/’ but there are new forms of truth out 
of which the world organisms of truth have been 
constructed. The same is true of right and hon¬ 
esty, purity and chastity, good-will and godliness. 
We cannot add to nor take from these qualities of 
the soul—not an iota. But their forms change, 
just as the physical forms of motion, heat and elec¬ 
tricity. To illustrate, you are right toward your 
wife and family. You go out to business and you 
are at once right toward the man with whom you 
do business. You fulfill your promise to the letter; 
you carry out your contract absolutely; you give 
full value for money received. What is this but 
your domestic rightness changed into commercial 
rightness, but in substance the same rightness. 

Further, this moral substance rises to higher 
and yet higher forms. All along the ages the con¬ 
structive Spirit of God has been changing and 
building up these moral atoms into ever higher 
forms of human thought and conduct. The Hew 
Testament is not the negation of the Old; it is its 
fulfillment. Jesus assured us he “ came not to de¬ 
stroy but to fulfill.” He came to bring higher soul 
units into being, and to construct out of these the 
higher totality of the soul. He came to organize 
into a higher spiritual unity the ancient vital ele¬ 
ments and forms of Judaism. He came that we 
“ might have life and that we might have it more 
abundantly.” An “ eye for an eye and a tooth for 


92 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


a tooth ” is one of the forms of the Mosaic code, 
but Jesus came to change and organize this in ac¬ 
cord with the higher and finer forms of the soul’s 
intuition. And so we find his new creation. “ Love 
your enemies ” and “ pray for those that despite- 
fully use you.” In those early days of Moses, it 
was sufficient to help those of your own race. But 
Jesus takes those moral elements and transforms 
them and reconstructs them into the higher organic 
glory of the Good Samaritan. And that is what 
lay all the while potentially at the bottom of the 
commandment to “ love thy neighbour as thyself.” 

The same old principle of human justice was 
still at work in the days of Jesus as it was in the 
days when Moses handed to the people of Israel the 
Ten Great Words of the Moral Law. But Jesus 
lifted it up into a higher form. He transformed 
it into the higher energy of the soul called the 
Golden Rule. He created at once a unity of truth 
higher than the world had ever reached or con¬ 
ceived. No man ever spoke as He did. He ever 
brought forth things new out of the old. Why ? 
Because He possessed all moral and spiritual power 
in heaven and upon the earth. He had power to 
forgive all sins as well as to heal all manner of 
disease. “ Which is easier ? ” He asked. They 
were both alike under His supreme control. God 
through Him was thus producing new elements of 
moral and spiritual truth, and constructing them 
into the very highest unity of human thought! All 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


93 


along the ages he has thus been gradually recon¬ 
structing into higher forms all national and inter¬ 
national relations. What seemed right and proper 
a century ago seems wrong to-day. Hence, the re¬ 
cent World War. There was a time not so long ago 
w'hen Germany could have acted as she did without 
having half the world on her hack. But that day 
is past. The human soul has been growing all the 
while. God has been in His great world workshop 
making His world. By degrees He has been chang¬ 
ing, pulling down, building up and reconstructing 
on a finer, wider and diviner scale. 

With the aid of scientific research we are find¬ 
ing out some most interesting facts never before 
known. We used to think it impossible to change 
elements. They were long regarded as irreducible. 
We now find they can be reduced and changed. 
For example, after Uranium has given off a 
Helium atom three times, it becomes radium. Ra¬ 
dium in turn gives off helium atoms, electrons, and 
x-rays—and common lead is left. “ How can these 
things be ? ” Only God knows. It is one of His 
ways of breaking down the old and building up the 
new. “ Behold, I make all things new.” He is 
ever remaking His world. And He will ever con¬ 
tinue until His new heaven and new earth appear. 

Or take the common law of gravitation. Why 
does this book fall when I let it go? You say the 
earth attracts it. Why does this needle rise ? You 
say by the magnetism of the magnet. But how can 


94 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


a thing attract or influence a thing where it is not 
itself? Only God knows. A molecule of water is 
made of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen, 
says physical science. Yet there is neither hydro¬ 
gen nor oxygen in the water. And, further, the 
combined atomic weights and proportions do not 
entirely constitute the water. It requires the my&* 
tic unity of the elements. Why ? God only knows. 
It only shows us that the Lord is every moment at 
work moving, changing, making and remaking His 
world. 

The same is true of life both vegetable and ani¬ 
mal. Both kinds of life arise from protoplasm. 
But by no known means can the protoplasm of ani¬ 
mals be distinguished from that of plants. It is 
just the unseen hand of God at work making now 
one and now another, according to “ the working 
of His good pleasure.” Though the protoplasm of 
the brain of a horse is the same as that of his foot, 
why does one become a brain and the other a foot? 
Up to a certain point, it is impossible by any known 
means to ascertain whether the embryo is that of a 
fish, a dog, or a man. Why? God is at work, all 
unseen and silently, making His world according to 
the secret designs of His good will. When He de¬ 
signs to fashion man, He breathes into his dust His 
own creative breath, and man comes forth in His 
image. “ And Jehovah God formed man of the 
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils 
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


95 


Every new-born child is thus a new creation fresh 
from the breath of the Maker. Moreover, man, the 
greatest marvel of God’s creative works, is every 
day breaking down and building up, under the con¬ 
stant workmanship of the Creator. No wonder the 
Psalmist exclaimed, “ I will give thanks unto 
Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” 

And God has been making man higher and 
higher all through the ages. Scientists tell there 
are at least eighty vestiges in the human body which 
the Maker has discarded for better organs. The ap¬ 
pendix vermiformis is one of them, and possibly 
the tonsil is another. The result is that every day 
we are cutting these out as cumberers of the body. 
The Maker is ever busy improving His creation. 
He is making better brains and better hearts and 
better hands. This is just another way of saying 
He is always busy improving civilization. For ex¬ 
ample, He has so improved our judgment that 
henceforth civilized nations are setting about to 
settle their international disputes by reason instead 
of the sword. Militarism, like a poisonous abscess, 
has for many a day been preying upon the vitals 
of the world body politic. And God is determined 
to get rid of it, that He may build up His world in 
the health and strength of peace and good-will. 
Then will the world body renew its health and go 
forth with new red clean blood in its veins and new 
inspiration in its breast, and new ideals in its soul. 

But God takes His own time in the making of 


96 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


His world. And He usually takes a long time. 
At least it seems long to us. And we naturally 
ask, Why ? While we have no answer, perhaps it 
may suffice to say, He waits till the time is fulfilled 
—till He has everything in readiness. Why, for 
example, did Jesus not come long before He did? 
The world was not ready for Him. “ Why did not 
the carpenters come sooner ? ”—you ask of the 
builder of your house. The masons were not 
through, he replies. So, remember, when Jesus 
came, he was to add to God’s world structure its 
finest and most essential handiwork. He was to 
fit into God’s Temple of humanity the chief corner¬ 
stone, the Redemptive Cross and the Sermon on the 
Mount. In the “fullness of time” he came. He 
could not have come sooner; the way was not yet 
open. The priests came when the prophets were 
through, and Christ came when the priests were 
through. Had He come sooner, it would have been 
a cosmic mistake. The eternal plans of heaven 
would have been aborted. And had He come later, 
calamity equally great would have resulted. No— 
He came in the “ fullness of time,” according to 
the plan of the Builder. 

When Jesus came He did wondrous things. The 
“ people marvelled.” He healed the dying and 
raised the dead, He restored the blind and trans¬ 
formed the elements. But, said He to His disciples, 
“ Greater things than these shall ye do, because I 
go unto my Father.” And all along the ages, ever 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


97 


since, He has been at work, through his Spirit, 
doing those greater things. But why does He not 
complete the whole at once? Why wait so long? 
We are not ready for it. Why does He not come 
again in His regnant glory ? We are not ready for 
Him. Why does He keep us so long in ignorance 
of the full meaning of life and all its mysterious 
experiences? We are not ready to he told. He 
says to us to-day, as He said to His disciples long 
ago, “ I have yet many things to say unto you, but 
ye cannot bear them now.” When we are ready to 
meet the Master, to fit into His completed world, to 
hear His full-orbed truth, then, and not till then, 
will He come. We may ask, why did the World 
War continue for four and a quarter years with its 
overwhelming carnage and sorrow? Our enemy 
was not yet ready to be beaten. The fires had not 
yet purged him sufficiently; they had not heated 
him to a point where the Supreme Ruler could 
mould him as He wished. And further, I am not 
sure that we were quite ready for victory and final 
peace. I am not sure that the rank materialism 
and sensualism and spiritual indifference that so 
long consumed our soul were sufficiently burned out 
of us. No, we could not have peace till it was the 
peace of God, bom of the Prince of Peace. It 
could not come before the “ fullness of the time.” 

God is building a Temple of World Democracy. 
And, like every other great building, a deep abid¬ 
ing foundation must be provided. Much has to be 


98 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


cleared away to make place for it. Not long ago 
I stood on Broadway, New York -City, looking 
down thirty feet into an excavation. I asked, the 
diggers why they were digging so deep. “ Be¬ 
cause,they replied, “ we are going to build so 
high .’ 7 God is building His temple as high as 
heaven, and so He digs as deep as the grave. He 
has been digging the foundation of this temple of 
Democracy for many a century. We need go back 
no further than the days of the English Magna 
Charta, then on up through the Lutheran Reforma¬ 
tion, the American and French Revolutions. Many 
asked why did the Civil War last so long? Be¬ 
cause slavery was to go forever. Why so long to 
banish the saloon? Because it is never to return. 
Then why war so long? Because war is to be a 
long time gone. Because the parapets of De¬ 
mocracy are to strike the stars and encircle the 
world. World brotherhood is going to link Heaven 
and Earth. It is to be God’s will done on earth 
as it is in heaven. On this Rock of Ages He will 
build and complete His eternal Temple of Chris¬ 
tian Democracy. 

And God is busy making other parts of His uni¬ 
verse as well. He is still busy making and perfect¬ 
ing suns and stars and planets. Further, and may 
I say it reverently, He is at work making Heaven. 
Did not the Master of Heaven say, “I go to pre¬ 
pare a place for you ” ? You have asked, why is 
one taken and the other left? Perhaps the answer 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


99 


is found in our theme—God is building Heaven, 
and the place for the surviving one is not yet ready. 
In any event, happy is the one who is ready when 
his place in heaven is ready. 

And so our Father-Maker is busy night and day 
in His unseen workshop silently making and per¬ 
fecting His Universe. Up to sixteen vibrations of 
sound-waves per second, we hear nothing, and at 
256 vibrations we hear the middle C note on the 
piano, but beyond 24,000 vibrations we hear noth¬ 
ing again. Were my ears attuned sufficiently, I 
think I could have heard God making those beauti¬ 
ful flowers. I think I could hear His unnumbered 
hosts at work in His upper kingdom. I think I 
could hear His words as of old, when He said, 
“ Let us make.” Up to 458 billion vibrations per 
second, we can see nothing; beyond 727 billion we 
can see nothing again. Were my eyes keen enough, 
I think I could have seen God making those flow¬ 
ers; I could see Him rolling off worlds from His 
finger-tips; I could see the prophets, priests, saints 
and loved ones whom He has perfected in the build¬ 
ing of His Kingdom. O what a sight—thus to be¬ 
hold the Master-Heart and Hand at work building 
up and completing everything for the good of those 
who love Him. I could see the crown awaiting me; 
I could see the host at work upon His unseen Tem¬ 
ple, as they serve Him night and day. I could see 
them ruling with Him over empires of which this 
Republic is but a parish. Think of it—Rulers 



100 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


with Him over worlds in the making and complet¬ 
ing. What a glory! 

And we are all builders in this world-making. 
Every soul has a nail to drive, a stone or a brick 
to add to this Temple of God’s World. The Great- 
Builder has appointed each a part to do. For re¬ 
member w r e are “ co-labourers marching with God.” 
We cannot, we dare not, leave the world till each 
has done his allotted share. Every day’s duty faith¬ 
fully done brings the day of completion so much 
the nearer. Every faithful day’s business you per¬ 
form hastens on so much the nearer the “ far-off 
divine event ” when the world of Commerce will be 
perfected in honesty and justice. Every day of 
homelife you have faithfully lived, brings so much 
nearer the day when the Home will be God’s per¬ 
fected inner sanctuary of love. Every day of faith¬ 
ful citizenship you have carried out will hasten on 
just that much nearer the Citizenship of Heaven 
which God wants to establish in every nation on the 
earth. Every day you live in allegiance to the rule 
of Christ in your soul, you have added another 
stone to the great international Kingdom of the 
King of Kings throughout the world. It is the lit¬ 
tle drops of water and the little grains of sand that 
make the world God is building for the sons of 
men. Heaven and earth are just one vast world 
in the making. And we all, whether here or in 
heaven, are builders. Some He calls to work in 
places here, and some in places there. But, wher- 


GOD MAKING OUR WORLD 


101 


ever He calls us to work and whatever He calls us 
to do, it is so important that, without it, God could 
not complete His world. “ Go work to-day,” He 
calls, and then He adds, “ Rejoice and be exceeding 
glad, for great is your reward in heaven.’’ 

What dignity! What worth while! Born to 
serve the Father of the world, to be a world-builder, 
making a Universe for God, and building His 
Kingdom for the sons of men. For, “ we are la¬ 
bourers together with God.” Then— 

“ O Master, let me walk with Thee 
In lowly paths of service free, 

Tell me Thy secret; help me bear 
The strain of toil, the fret of care.” 


VIII 

THE SILENCE OF ETEKNITY 


“ Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears 
of the deaf shall be unstopped ”— Isaiah 35:5. 

^ HE deepest and realest things in human 
life are beyond the pale of sense. They 
can be best expressed in terms of silence. 
The profoundest verities of every-day relationships 
fall within its scope. The silences of home, busi¬ 
ness, politics, society, education and religion are 
by far the greatest of their realities. It is for this 
reason that the universe seems shrouded for the 
most part in baffling mystery. Doubtless Nature 
has ten thousand voices but the poor ear of the 
human soul fails to hear. Time, what is it ? Could 
we answer this question, the mystery of life itself 
would be solved. The past lies behind us in the 
far stretch of silence. The present is as a passing 
stream whose deep is so great it glides on in silence. 
The future is ever coming to us with footsteps so 
light we cannot hear it. And so man journeys on 
wrapt largely in the silence of eternity. That is 
why Jesus never wearied telling us to have faith. 
He saw there was no other way. He saw that only 

the ear of faith could break the silence of the 

102 



THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


103 


eternal which everywhere and everywhile sur¬ 
rounds us. 

There are the silences of Nature . At the foot-/ 
hills of the Alaskan Mountains I have gazed up¬ 
ward by the hour at the great snow and ice-capped 
peaks. And every thought spelled the silence of 
eternity. The imperial language with which it 
spoke to my soul. I am sure you have experienced 
just what I wish to tell you. You have felt the 
impact of the mountain silence that seemed to open 
to your soul such a sublime solemn sense of the 
eternal as never came to you at any other time. It 
seemed to you as if 

“ Creation sleeps: as if the general pulse 
Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause, 

An awful pause,—prophetic of the doom.” 

Even in the way of common life, we come across 
this silence of nature. Have you not ridden along 
a country road on a dark night, when you saw and 
felt nothing but the silent darkness? It perhaps 
reminded you of Isaac Taylor’s “ A Country Ride 
in a Dark Night,” that masterpiece on earth’s com¬ 
mon silences. We do not need to gaze into the 
heavens to breathe the mystic silence of stars and 
planets. No, it lies at our door; at every hand it 
elbows us; it jostles us amid the throng; it crowds 
us in the forum; it sits with us in the pew; it 
whispers to us in prayer; it embraces us in 
sorrow. 

The Silences of the Human Soul are as varied 


104 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


as the forms of life itself. They all go to make up 
the world that lies down deep in every breast. All 
human experiences that matter most are the ones 
so profound that they transcend the power of ear 
to hear or eye to see. They are the silent experi¬ 
ences, known in their reality only to ourselves or 
those who have passed through similar depths or 
heights. Real joy is the earless and wordless kind. 
Paul calls it “ unspeakable and full of glory.” A 
piece of music or a sermon thrilled your soul. You 
tried to tell someone how much you enjoyed it. 
You exclaimed, “It was grand! It was glorious! 
It was simply divine! ” But your words failed 
you. The experience was deeper than your words 
could reach. It was so real you could not tell it. 
It was so real it belonged to the silence of the 
Eternity in your soul. It is the same with all other 
emotions. We are frightened stiff—silent. We 
are so surprised we are dumfounded—silent. We 
become white with anger. Sorrow seals our lips. 
Beyond a certain velocity, air vibrations become 
silent to the ear. They outrange the sensibility of 
the human organ. The same is true of sight and 
every other sense. So is it with the soul. Its deep¬ 
est and highest reaches outrange the grasp of every 
faculty, and only the silence of eternity is left. 

This accounts at least in part for what seems 
to us so often the inscrutable ways of Providence. 
It is only because His ways are so high above our 
sensibility that they seem strange. They are so far 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


105 


beyond our powers of ear and eye and reason that 
they are silent to us, but they are not silent to God. 
No one can hear the watch tick like its maker. No 
one can understand the secret ways of the automo¬ 
bile like its* builder. His ear is tuned to the 
work of his hands. So is it with what appears 
to us the strange ways of Providence. The ear of 
the Maker is tuned to hear where we cannot hear; 
the eye of the Maker is focussed to see where we 
cannot see; the mind of the Maker is adjusted to 
understand what we cannot comprehend. That is 
why Jesus did not attempt to explain the mystery 
of the Eternal or the common silences of this 
earthly life; we could not have understood Him, 
had He tried. So He was content, as He was 
obliged, to say, “Fear not, only believe.” 

Let us look a little further into our every-day 
silences. Think of the silence of harmony . The 
engine is silent whose parts run in perfect har¬ 
mony. So is it with the thousand relationships of 
every passing day. There is the silence of friend¬ 
ship, so complete that its mere companionship is its 
great delight. There is also the silence of sym¬ 
pathy. The difference between the Priest, the 
Levite and the Good Samaritan was fundamentally 
a silent one. The two former passed by because 
they lacked what the latter had—the silent virtue 
of compassion. The Good Samaritan story has its 
primary meaning in the source of its kindness, not 
the kindness itself. He possessed the eternal 


106 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


silence of fellow-feeling. From this silence sprang 
the deed that is the type of all true Christian 
brotherhood. In fact this is true of Christianity 
itself. It is not a constituted organism; it is a 
hidden life. It is not a theory of thought; it is a 
silent dynamic. It is not a system of conduct; it 
is a well-spring of feeling. It is not contained in 
Bible or Creed; it is silently incarnated in every¬ 
day human life. It is not anything we see or hear; 
it is the silence of Eternity dwelling supreme in 
every Christ-determined life. 

Then take the silence of Sorrow and Suffering l 
W hen the soul is heavy and the heart is all but 
broken, O how futile are the words of well-meaning 
friends. But how much it helps when someone, 
perchance a stranger, placing his hand on our 
shoulder, says, “ My heart bleeds for you, for I 
know by experience the pangs that rend your very 
soul. I know exactly what you are passing through 
—God pity and comfort you.” At once there 
comes the sense of the silent fellowship of sufferers. 
For it is commonplace to say that the more real 
sorrow and suffering are, the more silent they are. 

Once more, look at the silence of Character . It 
is the silent source of all human conduct. It is 
like the silent mountain fastness that sends its 
stream down into the plain, hearing blessing un¬ 
told to the multitudes among whom it chances to 
pass. There is no virtue or sin in words or deeds. 
Our tongues never lie, and our hands never steal. 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


107 


They are never honest. They only obey the behest 
of Character. A man is not a liar because he lies, 
or a thief because he steals. No. He lies and 
steals because he is a lying or stealing character. 
The source of his conduct is thus unseen and silent. 
No microscope can detect it, and no analysis can 
find it. There it is, hidden—the silence of God’s 
grace, or the silence of sin—yet determining life 
and destiny. Ah, how silently it acts; and there we 
are unconsciously always growing stronger or 
weaker till one day it is all revealed to us. A 
temptation like a gale assails us, and to our joy we 
stand or to our sorrow we fall. Not long ago a 
young man of twenty came to my study. He bore 
a spotless reputation. So far as we all knew, his 
character was beyond reproach. But to my amaze¬ 
ment he began by asking me to assist him in writ¬ 
ing a farewell letter. I asked, “ Are you leaving 
town?” “No,” he answered. “Are you leaving 
home? ” “ No,” came the answer again. “ Well— 
what is your idea in writing a farewell letter ? ” 
“ I want to end it all; my life is a failure,” was 
his shocking explanation. At once I surmised 
some secret sin of long standing. He confessed he 
had been secretly committing a certain crime, and 
now in his judgment only death could relieve him. 
When I was a pastor in Cleveland, Ohio, a brilliant 
young physician came up to me at the close of an 
evening Service, and expressed his desire to see 
me in my study. His first remark was, “ I wish 


108 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


you would pray for me; my mind is failing me as 
the result of sin committed twenty years ago.” 
Tears trickled down his cheeks to the floor, and in 
a paroxysm of grief he joined me in prayer. Hid¬ 
den and silent for twenty years all unknown, it was 
doing its destructive work. Within a year he was 
in a hospital for the insane. If the sons of men 
could but keep in mind the silent insidiousness of 
sin, this sin-stricken earth would soon have a dif¬ 
ferent story to tell. 

Speaking of the silence of sin and virtue brings 
us to think of the recent World War. We spent a 
good deal of time in its early phase asking what 
caused it. And no one ever seemed able to intelli¬ 
gently answer our question. It was not caused by 
armies or navies or great war preparations. No— 
the cause was something far more profound and 
subtle. It was not an act nor a sum of actions that 
caused the war. It was a deep, hidden, silent 
growth—a malignant political growth—which the 
world calls the cancerous sin of militarism. Its 
growth was so silent that the world did not detect 
it. Thus, even its closest neighbours, all unsus¬ 
pecting, were totally unprepared to meet the deadly 
sore when it broke out. 

But now we are asking the one great question— 
when will all war end? Had we the sensibility of 
the eternal, it would be easy to answer this greatest 
of all questions to-day. But, mark you, somewhere 
the Angel of Peace has recorded it all—only the 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 109 

record lies silently beyond the range of the human 
eye. 

But one day we’ll see and hear it all. The 
progress of civilization is just one great chapter 
of the silences of eternity broken anon by the on¬ 
ward march of human brain and heart and will. 
The telescope has broken its hundreds of silences; 
the microscope its thousands, and electricity its tens 
of thousands. The silence of disease is steadily 
giving way to the forces of anaesthetic, the scalpel 
and the serums. The silence of the air is ever 
yielding its secrets to the genius of men, so that 
its electricity is harnessed for ten thousand forms 
of service. No longer does the silence of distance 
intercept our conversation; a man in New York 
talks with his wife who chances to be in San Fran¬ 
cisco. Men have taken to themselves the wings of 
flight, and the silences of the clouds are penetrated. 
With telescope and spectrum man traces the move¬ 
ments and unfolds the wonders of the sun and stars 
and planets, and so breaks the age-long silence of 
the heavens. 

And so the process goes on. The eternal ever be¬ 
coming the temporal; the unseen ever becoming the 
seen; the potential ever becoming the actual; the 
ideal ever becoming the real; the mysterious ever 
becoming the friend of man; the silence of eternity 
ever revealing the Goodness of God. 

The silences of life are filled with the primary 
importance of every day’s experience. Love, for 


110 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


example, the greatest power in the world, lies silent 
as eternity. You can’t fathom it; you can’t analyze 
it; you can’t see it; you can’t hear it; you can’t 
touch it; you can’t weigh it; you can’t measure it. 
Yet there it is, the biggest and best thing on earth 
—absolutely silent. With it, life’s tide flows full; 
without it, life’s tide ebbs out and only the barren 
shore remains. Look, before the marriage altar 
there stands a young couple to be united in mar¬ 
riage. What makes the great event the blessed 
realty it is? The ceremony? No. The vows? 
No. The statutes? No. Beside the ceremonv, 
did you hear anything? No. Bid you see any¬ 
thing? No. Then what? It was the silence of 
eternity —the great love hand of God silently at 
work welding together two hearts as one—“ They 
twain shall be one flesh,” and, “ whom the Lord 
hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” 

Or take the birth of your child—another great 
pillar in the temple of human life. The event 
filled your heart with joy unspeakable. And why ? 
The little form? No! The little cry ? No! Then 
why ? The silence of eternity!—down deep beyond 
all words all unseen and unheard the great Father 
of us all was softly and sweetly at work playing on 
the parental love strings of your soul. And those 
precious love strains will never die out from your 
parent heart, for they belong to the silence of the 
eternal. There, in the silent holy of holies of your 
being, God linked together your soul and your little 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


111 


one with a tie that not all the force of time or 
eternity can break. 

Here do we come upon something of the mean¬ 
ing of the universe. How the human soul pants in 
its quest after the meaning of this old world in 
which we struggle along from day to day. It 
calls to mind the hero in Tancred, who prostrated 
himself on the barren peak of Mount Sinai, and 
cried out for a new revelation—some break in the 
silence of God’s lips since the days of Moses and 
Jesus. Doubtless it is this longing of the soul to 
pierce its own silence that has erected Churches, 
formulated sects, created legends, provoked revolu¬ 
tions and promoted reformations. Man is ever 
asking “ Whence have I come ? Where am I ? and 
Whither am I going ? ” Science gives us many 
facts; Philosophy much logic; Theology many 
creeds: but the stars glitter on; the winds whistle 
by; angels sing on their “ faithful watches keep¬ 
ing,” and no word—not a single word from heaven 
or earth—as to the primary and final meaning of 
the Universe. 

What then? Is there no answer to the mystic 
plans and providences of God? Yes, there assur¬ 
edly is—only we cannot detect it. Had we the 
faculties of the Eternal, there would be no eternal 
silence for us and there would be no more mystery. 
It is only a matter of our sensibility to the move¬ 
ments and ways of God and His Universe. And 
step by step we are growing in that sensibility. So, 


112 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


as we saw a few moments ago, the silence of 
eternity is gradually becoming broken. Did I say, 
“ Eternity ? ” Yes—for all the laws and prin¬ 
ciples of time are eternal. Some day there will be 
no Silence of Eternity. There was a time when 
we saw only a few thousand stars; now we count 
them by the hundreds of thousands. There was a 
time when you could hear no one beyond a few 
hundred yards; now you can hear them whisper 
across the continent. There was a day when we 
could see nothing smaller than a grain of dust; 
now we count germs and blood cells by the millions 
though hidden to the unaided eye. There will 
come a day not far distant, says a scientific sage, 
when standing at Ellis Island, you can see your 
friend on the wharf at Liverpool. Yes, the Silence 
of Eternity is passing away. 

God is shouting to us with ten thousand voices. 
He has been thundering His secrets down the ages, 
but these poor sluggish sin and sense fettered ears 
and eyes have not been able to discern Him. Here 
and there keenly organized minds have heard Him 
and told His message to the ages. But as yet we 
have heard Him chiefly in the rumbling thunder, 
the whispering winds, the boisterous waves, the 
whirl of business, the babbling of society, and the 
crash of warring nations. But with every new day 
more and more acute is our sense becoming, and 
God’s silences are passing away. 

Perhaps there is no silence that troubles us like 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


113 


the silence of death . What is death, but the velvet 
footstep of Jesus entering the home, with step so 
silent and voice so low that we cannot see or hear 
Him. The act is so divinely fine that our earth- 
made ears cannot hear, nor our eyes behold Him. 
Had we eyes and ears as refined as eternity, we 
could hear His tender footfall and see His gracious 
form as in His shepherd arms He takes our precious 
ones away to be with Him forever. For does He 
not plainly say—“ I will come again, and receive 
you unto myself.” And does not the apostle say— 
“Now I see through a glass darkly, but then face 
to face.” And are not our future faculties but the 
present ones perfectly organized and inter-related? 
Moreover, it is not too much to say that, were our 
senses of hearing and seeing sufficiently refined, we 
could see our departed dear ones in their present 
estate clothed in the spiritualized body of the 
blessed Redeemer. 

I venture further to say the soul is not invisible 
—it is invisible only to us at present. To-morrow 
we may be able to see it. There is indeed nothing 
invisible nor silent. They are only so to us with 
just the kind of eyes and ears we now have. There 
is no mystery in the human world. What seems so 
is but our clouded vision, as we see through life’s 
glass but darkly. There is no silence of eternity. 
What seems so is but the silence of unhearing 
time-stopped ears. But the Kingdom of Christ’s 
light is on the way. Then all the world will ring 


114 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


out for us the voice of God. “ Then shall the eyes 
of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf 
shall be unstopped.” 

Then bear in mind, amid the silences of your 
daily life, that God is walking with us, but we are 
not able yet to hear His footstep; that He is talk¬ 
ing with us, but our vulgar ears cannot hear Him 
yet; that He is working among us, but our sight 
is yet so clouded we cannot well observe Him; that 
He is carrying out His plans, but our minds are 
so dimmed with the dust of time that we can only 
faintly trace them. In short, do not forget that 
all earth’s silences are of ourselves and not of God; 
that He has no secret to hide and no mystery to un¬ 
fold. It is ours to spiritualize the sensibility, to 
set aside all that is base, and appropriate all that 
is divine. Thus, “ Blessed are the pure in heart, 
for they shall see God.” And, as if to point out 
the way of this clear vision, the Master adds—* 
“ He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” 
What silent deeps were broken up when Paul saw 
Jesus, when Augustine beheld the Redeemer, and 
Luther caught the vision of the High Priest of all 
men, and what voices wait for us from out the 
silence of eternity as our ears become unstopped, 
by the indwelling Spirit of Jesus. That is what 
he meant when he said so often, “ He that hath 
ears to hear let him hear.” 

Then let our love for God become so profound 
that it will move among the deep silences of our 


THE SILENCE OF ETERNITY 


115 


soul. That is the import of Christ’s call to love 
Him with all the heart and soul and mind. That 
is the kind that goes down beneath all the differ¬ 
ences of man-made creeds and forms of religion. 
Let us love our fellows with the love that goes down 
into the creedless silence of eternal brotherhood. 
The kind that gets down beneath the cavilling of 
race or sect or caste. This love which is born of 
God is the master key to all the silences of time 
and eternity. In its bosom lies the blessedness of 
all earth’s silences. In it rests the mystic silence 
of all God’s plans and providences that so often 
seem so strange and baffling. So wrote the poet: 

“ O Sabbath rest by Galilee, 

O calm of hills above, 

When Jesus knelt to share with thee 
The silence of eternity, 

Interpreted by love.” 


IX 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


" And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us .”— 
John 1:14. 

W E hear a good deal these days about 
the religion of the articulate. Some 
explain it in terms of what they call 
pragmatic theology; others call it the religion of 
the Social Order; while still others designate it in 
plain terms as practical Christianity. Called by 
whatever name, it is found deep hidden in our 
text. We are here taught that, so far as humanity 
is concerned, there is no religion of the inarticu¬ 
late. We know Christianity only as it becomes 
flesh. Christ becomes a reality to us primarily, 
and, indeed, only, as he becomes flesh and dwells 
among us. Carlyle may write on the philosophy of 
clothes, and Brierly may muse on “ Well-Dressed 
Souls.” Philosophers may reason about the theo¬ 
ries of being, while Scientists may discover the 
laws that govern matter. And Theologians may 
weave out their well-spun doctrines of God and the 
Soul. Still there remains the fact that all their ef¬ 
forts are valueless till they become flesh and dwell 
among the sons of men. 

Let us look at this fact of human nature as we 

116 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


117 


see it in its daily garb. What, for example, is 
human life unless it is articulated? You say, it is 
a principle. But what is a principle unless it is 
articulated ? In other words, life is nothing to us 
unless it becomes flesh and dwells among us. 
“ The body returns to the dust whence it came, but 
the spirit unto God who gave it.” But what of the 
Spirit, if it had never become articulated through 
the dust ? Apart from such incarnation, the Spirit 
would never have been a reality to us, and there¬ 
fore, would never have meant anything to us. Had 
Christ never become flesh, his glory, his beauty 
and his power would never have been to us a fact, 
or a reality in any shape or form. 

Or take the ordinary virtues . What is honesty 
apart from the honest man? Nothing, so far as 
humanity goes. There is no virtue in honesty; 
there is virtue only in an honest man. Honesty 
must become flesh and dwell among us. It has no 
being or value otherwise. The same is true of all 
other virtues. The same is also true of all vices. 
Take for example immorality. There is no such 
thing as non-personal immorality. There are just 
immoral men and women. Immorality is incar¬ 
nated vice. It is vice made flesh and dwelling 
among us. 

This principle of incarnation is the basis of all 
human experience. Metaphysicians have long told 
us this. They have assured us beyond the shadow 
of a doubt that all experience is formed as it comes 


118 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


to us through the moulds of our own individual in¬ 
telligence. Every man thus carries around in him 
his own world. And no two worlds are quite alike. 
We have one universe hut 1,500 million different 
worlds. The universe is ever becoming flesh and 
dwelling among us, just as it becomes articulated 
through the flesh and blood of every individual. 
Each individual is thus the universe incarnate. 
Apart from this articulation there is no world for 
us, and the universe itself is nothing to us. In 
fact unembodied personal consciousness within it¬ 
self is mere negation. Nowhere is this fact more 
evident than in the realm of the moral and 
spiritual. 

Apply it further to the sphere of conduct . We 
speak of this or that good or bad principle. 
Whereas principles are neither good nor bad. 
Goodness or badness does not belong to an abstract 
principle. It belongs to a living person. Things 
are neither good nor bad,—men are both. “ Only 
man is vile,” says the poet. And only man is good. 
When you reason about right or wrong, you reason 
about the souls of men “ made flesh.” For nothing 
is right or wrong; only men are right or wrong. 
In fact, acts have no virtue; only the person who 
performs them. Lips never tell truth or falsehood; 
only the person behind the lips. Hands never do 
anything kind or unkind; only the soul that moves 
the hands. Adultery is not an act; it is a sensuous 
attitude of mind. It is sense made flesh unbridled 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


119 


and unsanctified. Jesus said the mental articula¬ 
tion of lust constituted adultery even apart from 
the act. The Ten Commandments mean nothing: 
till they become flesh and dwell among us. There 
is no virtue in tables of stone. They must become 
concrete to become real. They can be no more real 
than the designs or plans of Solomon’s Temple were 
real compared with the Temple itself. Designs 
unexecuted are as empty and meaningless as noth¬ 
ing. Just so is the Decalogue. It is just words— 
“ Ten Moral Words ”—absolutelv inert and value- 

4/ 

less until they “ become flesh and dwell among 
us.” Out of, and upon these words, man builds his 
moral temple. But until used for this purpose they 
are as “ sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.” 

It was this very fact which the Pharisees in the 
days of Jesus failed to understand. It is this 
very fact that has proven a tremendous stumbling 
block to the Christian Church almost ever since. 
The Pharisees formulated their religion; they did 
not articulate it. They strained at a gnat, but 
swallowed a camel. This is exactly what the 
Christian Church has done for many a century. 
Their religion has been a plan rather than a struc¬ 
ture, a creed rather than an incarnation. In plain 
terms, it has been more a question of what they 
believed than how they lived. 

The Reformation at its base was more moral than 
theological. In fact Martin Luther’s primary ob¬ 
ject was the moral regeneration of the Church. The 


120 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


Church was dogmatically strong but morally inert. 
It fell to the lot of John Calvin and other reform¬ 
ers to enforce the incarnate reality of the Chris¬ 
tian religion. They insisted there was no virtue in 
Christianity for any believer whose daily life did 
not hear the fruits of the Spirit of Christ. The 
Spirit and the flesh are not two but one. There 
is no Spirit life for us that is not embodied in the 
flesh. There is no Christianity that is not crim¬ 
soned with the red life blood that courses through 
the human heart. The Christian Church has taken 
a long time to understand that all the belief in the 
world is in itself powerless to redeem, to restore 
and to save. That word “ belief ” has become so 
bedraggled along the roads of usage that its origi¬ 
nal content has all but left it. It has become so 
thin and vapourous that little vitality remains in it. 
How different it has become from the energizing 
and vitalizing and transforming word it was as it 
fell from the lips of Jesus. “ Thy faith hath saved 
thee ” rang repeatedly from his tongue, with the 
clarion peal of eternity in it. But it was the kind 
of faith that pressed its way through the multitude 
that it might but touch the hem of His garment. It 
was the kind that climbed walls and tore open roofs 
that it might reach the presence of Jesus. It was 
the kind that like a mighty sea surged in the depths 
of the soul, and moved hands and feet to obey its 
imperial behests. Faith, this kind of faith, my 
friends, is not a mental theory, it is a spiritual 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


121 


dynamic. It is not an ecclesiastic creed; it is a 
personal conviction. Faith is not what you believe, 
it is what you live by. You cannot tell your be¬ 
lief; you can only live it. It cannot become doc¬ 
trine; it can only become flesh. It cannot be writ¬ 
ten on paper; it can only be engraven on your 
heart. 

The same is true of prayer. Prayer is never 
said; it is always breathed. God never hears 
prayers; He just hears His children praying. 
Prayer is not an act, it is a communion. It is not 
something you see or touch or even talk about. It 
is a oneness between God and His children. See 
a man in prayer, and you behold the unity of 
Heaven and earth incarnate. 0, how the world has 
missed this true dynamic of prayer! Just like the 
Pharisee who only “ said ” his prayers, and missed 
the blessing the Lord intended he should have. 
While, on the other hand, the publican found it. 
What was the difference between their prayers? 
The one was made words and the other was <c made 
flesh.” Prayers are neither ritualistic nor extem¬ 
pore. They are the yearnings of the spirit articu¬ 
lated in soul fellowship with the Father-heart of all 
mankind. Jesus emphasized this truth when at 
Jacob’s Well, he declared that prayer was neither 
here nor there, but just a burning soul-worship of 
the Father. “ They that worship Him must worship 
Him in Spirit and in Truth.” That is, their prayer 
must breathe the warmth of their very heart-blood. 


122 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


Yet how many of us have never gotten away from 
the Mediaevalism of just “ saying 57 our prayers. 
We start our children off on the pathway of prayer 
by teaching them they must “ say ” their prayers. 
Frequently, we read in funeral press accounts that 
prayers were “ read ” by the Reverend So and So. 
What a travesty on the most sacred exercise of the 
human soul. For prayer is not made up of words 
or ideas. It is the kinship between the Father 
and His child made flesh in the most holy of all 
sacraments in heaven or on earth. It is not an 
ecclesiastic act; it is a soul experience. 

The same is true of Church membership. For 
a long time we have counted our membership by 
the names on the Church Roll. For mathematical 
purposes this may be allowed. But by no manner 
of means does it constitute Christian Church mem¬ 
bership. Christian Church membership is not a 
name; it is a relationship. It is not a record; it 
is an experience. It is not a matter of vows; it is 
a matter of daily life. Your membership must be¬ 
come flesh and dwell among us. It must roll from 
your lips and hands with the warm breath of your 
soul upon it. Your membership cannot be an ec¬ 
clesiastic standing; it must be a burning light. It 
cannot flicker in the hidden corners of your con¬ 
fession ; it must “ shine before men,” as the Master 
said, “ that they may see your good works, and 
glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If your 
membership does not thus become concrete in office, 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


123 


workshop and home, it is as meaningless and value¬ 
less as a physician’s prescription that remains un¬ 
filled. The reality of Church membership is its 
incarnation. It is not so much a matter of mem¬ 
bership in this or that branch of the Christian 
Church. It is vastly more a question of its becom¬ 
ing articulated in the ten thousand experiences of 
our daily lives. Our “ Lord, Lord,” on Sunday, 
is as empty and flat as a punctured tire if on Mon¬ 
day it does not colour our dealings toward our em¬ 
ployer or employee, or the public with whom we 
chance to do business. The supreme test of Church 
membership is whether or not it becomes “ flesh 
and dwells among us ” every day in the week . The 
world despises nothing more than a mere profes¬ 
sion. It will forgive a man for stealing or lying, 
but it will not forgive him his inconsistency. Your 
profession must become flesh. 

This principle of nature is nowhere more evident 
than in the realm of Christian Service. Jesus 
spent little time theorizing about this great duty 
of the human soul. He spent most of his public 
life demonstrating the necessity of it. In the par¬ 
able of the Good Samaritan the story of it all is 
told. Sympathy was the root of its meaning. Had 
you conversed with the priest and the Levite, you 
would have found their conversation just as sympa¬ 
thetic for the needy as was the “ Certain Samari¬ 
tan.” Wherein was the difference? The compas¬ 
sion of the Samaritan moved him to action. The 


124 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


sympathy of the other two was so thin, so unreal, 
that it did not crystallize into action. The Master 
speaks of only one of them having compassion. 
Why ? There is no reality of any kind to the mind 
of Jesus but the kind that becomes flesh and dwells 
among us. To Him there was only one compassion, 
and that was the kind that became warm with the 
breath of the soul—the kind that went out from the 
tongue and finger-tips in words and deeds of help 
and comfort for the stranger brother in need. 

No wonder then that “ the Word became flesh 
and dwelt among us.” It was but the genius of 
nature having her way. We see the Christ of 
Eternity as we see the Christ of Galilee. Lifted 
up in flesh and blood, He is drawing all men unto 
Him. Throughout all the world He is to-day rein¬ 
carnating Himself in the daily lives of untold multi¬ 
tudes of all kindreds, peoples and tongues. It is 
not a question of His virgin birth; it is entirely a 
question of His becoming flesh , and so obeying the 
primary behest of human consciousness. 

Moreover, to Jesus there was no earthly truth 
outside the human soul. The Kingdom of Heaven 
was to him not an abstract principle; “ it is within 
you,” he declared. It does not consist of statutes; 
it is a spiritual universe. It is not an organiza¬ 
tion; it is a vital force. It is not a principle; it 
is the Spirit of God made flesh among men any¬ 
where. The Kingdom is not something formulated 
by theologians; it is something lived out every hour 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


125 


by the followers of Christ on the highway of 
human life. 

The fact is, Christianity is every day in the mak¬ 
ing. It is never complete. It is, indeed, never a 
fact till it becomes flesh in the daily lives of men. 
It has always been crimsoned from the hour of 
Calvary down to the present. There is no Chris¬ 
tianity without the blood of Christ. Neither is 
there any Christianity without the blood of men. 
Oh that this primary law of all human experience 
were imprinted upon the table stones of every 
Christian conscience! What a dynamic verity the 
Christian religion would at once become to un¬ 
numbered souls over all the world. “ Ye shall see 
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 
There it is. Do you behold it ? When we see the 
truth, freedom follows. Truth that we see is truth 
that we know by actual experience. And there is 
no other truth. Truth is an incarnate living per¬ 
sonal force. That is why Jesus said, “ I am the 
* * * truth.” 

Herein lies the gulf that separates what we term 
actual and nominal Christians. Ask one hundred: 
“ Do you believe in Christ ? ” and ninety-five of 
them will answer, “ Yes.” Ask them, “ Are you 
living in actual personal union with Him ? ” and 
you will have few such answers. Their belief is 
not made flesh, and, therefore, is not a governing 
power in their lives. “Not every one that saith 
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall inherit the kingdom 


126 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


of heaven, but he that doeth the will of the Father.” 
A prominent theologian recently declared that 
•Christianity was a revelation of the saving power 
of God in Christ. A mistake. A Christian is such 
a revelation, but not Christianity. Till Chris¬ 
tianity becomes flesh in the daily life of Christ’s 
followers, it is just an echo, a picture, a mere state¬ 
ment. We hear a great deal these days about the 
historicity of the Scriptures. The fact is that until 
the Scriptures become bone of our bone and flesh 
of our flesh they are but the annals of history. 
But, when they become vitalized into the tissue of 
our being, they become the veritable Word of God. 
A metabolism has taken place. The words of men 
become the Word of God. The Bible is not the 
same book to the man who neglects it as it is to 
the man who absorbs it into his daily life. Food 
is not the same thing to the man who does not eat 
it as it is to the man who does eat it. To the one 
it is a mere vegetable composition, useless and 
valueless to him. To the other it is a life-force in 
every blood cell of his body. The Bible is but a 
mere composition of words and ideals, useless and 
valueless till it is absorbed and assimilated into the 
tissue of the soul. When so received, it becomes 
a spiritual life force, transforming and directing 
the conduct of our daily affairs. Yes. There is 
no Word of God in the world to anyone but the 
man to whom the Bible has become flesh and bone 
and nerve and muscle. You can accept the Bible, 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


127 


you cannot accept the Word of God. You can 

carry the Bible around in your pocket, but not the 

Word of God. You can commit the Bible to 

memory, but you can’t memorize the Word of God. 

You do not remember the Word of God, you live 

it. You cannot analyze the Word of God; you 

breathe it. You cannot dogmatize the Word of 

God; you absorb it. It does not exist; it lives. 

It is the written voice of the Spirit made flesh. 

What are the Scriptures to you ? The Bible or the 

Word of God? Your answer to this question is the 

answer to the worth of the Christian Religion to 

vou. 

«/ 

In this most practical of all ages, when shall we 
learn the glory of this most practical of all sub¬ 
jects—the religion of our blessed Master? When 
we have learned it hy experience. Only then shall 
we know the meaning of Christianity. When once 
the fact, for example, that God is our Father and 
that He has numbered the hairs of our heads be¬ 
comes part of our very flesh and bone, then shall 
be past the day of our anxiety and sorrow. How 
intensely concrete Jesus was when He thus said, 
“ Take no thought for the morrow.” That meant 
our faith was to be clothed in the flesh. He meant 
that thus it should take the weakness from our 
nerves, the fear from our hearts, and the sorrow 
from our souls. And then, when He talked about 
the final day of reckoning, how utterly concrete He 
was. Those to whom the door was open were not 


128 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


those who merely held a belief and executed a wor¬ 
ship. It was to those whose religion had taken on 
the flesh. It had become transformed into words 
and deeds of love and mercy. “ Inasmuch as ye 
have done it unto one of the least of these, my 
brethren, ye have done it unto me.” 

As a conclusion to this subject it may well be 
said that human experience is but one long pro¬ 
tracted parturition. With a master stroke one of 
our leading writers recently declared, “ Humanity 
is pierced with such pains as never before * * * 
Democracy * * * is about to give birth to the 
heir of all the ages.” The birth of World De¬ 
mocracy is taking place. Every strike and strife 
is a labour pain that ushers in the day when world 
peace shall be incarnate forever. Above all the din 
and sorrow of to-day, can you not hear the laughter 
of the beautiful child of to-morrow? Then the 
sword shall be sheathed and the fires of good-will 
shall burn forever upon the altar of universal 
brotherhood. Soon democracy, the glory of civil¬ 
ization, will walk about the streets of every land 
clothed in the beautiful garments of common 
brotherhood. So be patient and bear up and on 
till this great hour of the Lord be fulfilled. It is 
conceived of the Holy Spirit of all history. It has 
been maturing silent and unseen during all the 
ages since God breathed man into existence upon 
the earth. Nothing can stay it. Eternal necessity 
is behind it. Universal law demands it. The 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


129 


Spirit of the Prince of Peace has long been taking 
on the form of men. Soon it will walk about in¬ 
carnated in every human breast in every nation 
under the shining sun. 

And so it is with every other problem of human 
life. Prohibition was conceived long ago. Yester¬ 
day we were in the labour struggle of delivery. 
To-day it is born—National Prohibition. And 
soon sobriety will be incarnated in every American 
within our bounds. What a glorious advent! 

Then the vexing question of Capital and Labour. 
Just yet we cannot see the solution. But, mark my 
word, it is being formed in the hidden soul of 
civilization. It is gradually becoming flesh, and 
when the hour comes—as come it will—a beautiful 
industrial child will be born. The Golden Rule 
will have become flesh. 0 Democracy of Christ, 
be thou of goodly cheer! The day of thy great joy 
is coming fast! Behold upon thy breast thy new¬ 
born son, beautiful and kingly, radiant and strong, 
in features like unto the Son of God! Then in thy 
joy shall thine agony be forgotten and then thine 
anguish shall be but a memory. 

Carry this principle of incarnation into every 
question that occupies your mind. You will find 
it has a message for you now. Are you vexed about 
the oppressions, the injustices, the meannesses, the 
mysteries of life? Don’t worry. They are all 
being solved and remedied. The New Era is grad¬ 
ually taking on the form of flesh. And one day it 


130 


ARTICULATED RELIGION 


will be full-born in the natural flesh and blood of 
society. When the Millennium will come, God 
only knows. But we all know that it is on the way. 
It is foolish to stop and figure about it; it is wise 
to roll up our sleeves and help to usher it in. 
Nothing can stop its coming. Just as the Spirit 
of Jesus becomes flesh and dwells in the breasts of 
men, so will the Millennium come. 


X 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 

“Thou shalt shut the door upon thee .”—II Kings 4:4. 

T WO scenes appear before us at this mo¬ 
ment. One is in the Old Testament. A 
widow is in great need. Her husband left 
her with very little. She has two sons. Debts pile 
up against her. She is unable to meet them. Her 
creditors press her. They threaten to take away 
her sons as bondsmen. One day, when hope was all 
but gone, she meets Elisha and tells him all about 
her troubles. “ What have you in your house? ” 
he asked. “ Nothing,” was the sad reply—“ not a 
thing. The bread and the meat and the milk and 
the meal are all gone. There’s not a morsel left. 
O, yes, I forgot to mention there’s a wee cruse of 
oil up yonder on the shelf that I keep for the boys 
when their skin is burnt by the scorching sun. But 
that’s all.” 

“ Well,” said the prophet, “ Go and get all the 
vessels you can scare up. Borrow of every neigh¬ 
bour. Borrow not a few, but many.” 

What a strange thing to ask her to do ? Didn’t 
it seem perfect nonsense? Borrowing empty ves¬ 
sels and nothing to put into them! But good brave 

131 


132 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


woman she was, she did what the spokesman for 
God told her to do, strange as it seemed. Ah, yes, 
sometimes the Lord seems to require of us duties 
that seem altogether unreasonable to our poor finite 
minds. But wait. He has something in store we 
know not of. So, just let us do what He wants us 
to do, “ nor murmur or repine.” 

But the hardest test was still to come. “ Go in 
and shut the door,” said Elisha. How just think 
of what this meant. She was to go in and shut 
the door against God’s skies and fields and gardens, 
with only empty vessels and a little cruse of oil. 
But, once more, faithful soul, she obeys. Her two 
hungry boys by her side, she slowly and quietly, 
hut resolutely, closes the door. And there they are 
closed in with empty vessels and nothing to eat. 
Ho fussing, nor complaining: I don’t hear her 
saying, “Dear me, why didn’t I ask the prophet 
to wait till I made one more attempt by asking rich 
old Benjamin Joash to loan me a few pennies.” 
Ho, she goes right in and closes the door. And now 
she and her two precious boys are alone with God 
and the empty jars. 

And now what happened? In obedience to the 
word of the prophet, she began to pour in her little 
oil into one of the vessels. She kept on pouring out 
till the vessel was filled, and until all the vessels 
were filled. Then to her son she said, “ Bring me 
yet another vessel.” “ Mother,” he replied, “ there 
isn’t another vessel.” What a scene! What an 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


133 


experience! What a lesson for her and all genera¬ 
tions that followed her. 

Then, in the flush of gratitude, the widow hast¬ 
ened to tell the prophet all about it. “ Go,” said 
he, “ sell the oil, pay thy debt, and with the balance 
live thou with thy sons.” And so is told one of the 
sublimest stories of the Lord’s timely providence. 

There was a secret to all this wondrous gift of 
God to this needy and wearied child of His. It 
was the closed door. She must needs go in and 
shut the door, and alone with the Lord wait His 
miracle of plenty. 

Jesus had delivered His Sermon on the Mount. 
The multitudes were amazed at the words that pro¬ 
ceeded from His lips. Among other things, He 
taught them the inner meaning of prayer. He told 
them how to pray with the greatest power. And 
the secret of this blessing was the closed door. 
“ When thou prayest,” He said, “ enter into thine 
inner chamber, and when thou hast shut thy door, 
pray to thy Father.” And then He added, “ Thy 
Father shall reward thee openly.” Yes, but I can 
hear Him declare, u You must close the door.” 
And, if you will examine the original word Jesus 
used, you will find that He said “ fastened ” as 
well as “ closed.” “ Fasten, lock, so that, though 
someone try to open it, he shall not succeed, it will 
remain shut.” 

Yes, there are times when we must be alone with 
the Father, with all the world shut out. Many a 


134 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


time, for this very reason, have I locked my study 
door. And people have knocked and gone away 
thinking I was not in. It would have been to me 
a sacrilege to have admitted them just at that 
moment. 

But more. God has doors in our lives all along 
the way—doors which He has bidden us enter and 
close forever. They are His Closed Doors. And 
they must not be opened. 

A few years ago, Mr. Lloyd George and a friend 
of his played a game of golf on an upland English 
meadow. On their way home they passed through 
fields where cattle grazed. The friend left one of 
the gates open, whereupon the Premier turned and 
closed it. His friend apologized. “ O, it’s all 
right,” replied the great statesman, “ but it re¬ 
minds me of Dr. Julius Smith. When the old man 
was on his death-bed, his minister asked him 
whether he had any message or word of prepara¬ 
tion to speak. ‘ Ho,’ said the doctor, ‘ I think I 
have always closed the gates behind me.’ ” F. W. 
Boreham, that interesting Tasmanian essayist, in 
his volume, “ The Silver Shadow,” tells of a little 
aged parishioner of his who had passed through 
untold sorrow and trial. On being asked by Mr. 
Boreham the secret of his Christian calmness, he 
replied he had all through his life taken as his 
motto, “ When I’ve shut the door, I’ve shut the 
door.” 

It is surely a principle wherewith to rule our 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


135 


daily walk, that when God calls us to go in and 
close the door, we should do so, but especially should 
we keep the door closed until He tells us to open. 
Forgetting this, we may miss God’s filled vessels. 

Did you ever stop to think just how foolish we 
are about a lot of these things ? I can see some of 
you lock your safe, then lock your office door, and 
finally, before you retire, lock your front, side and 
rear doors. And as slumber is gently closing your 
eyes, your wife suddenly remembers that possibly 
the rear window was not barred. Half-assured 
yourself, you still assure her that it is locked. And 
yet, all the while, anyone so disposed could have 
entered your home unobstructed through one or two 
windows that remain unfastened the year round. 
The point is just this, we lock our safes and houses 
to keep the outside obtruding world away from us 
and our treasures. We close these doors as we 
ought so to do. But not long afterward, we open 
them. Soon after returning home from the office, 
we begin to open in our minds the ledger and sales- 
book which an hour before we put securely away 
in the safe. Soon after our heads touch the pillow, 
we begin to go over some piece of business for the 
next day, with a man in a neighbouring town. And 
yet a few moments before we barred out every per¬ 
son in that town from entering the house. Yet 
there is that man—mentally, there he is—sitting on 
the bed beside you, and you are doing business with 
him, when all the while God and the Universe or- 


136 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


ders you to keep the door closed against him and 
start charging up your body and brain and heart 
for the next day. 

When I was a child, many times did my good 
mother say to me, “ Robert, will you ever learn to 
close the door after you ? ” And, in the larger 
sense, I have not yet really learned to do it. And 
yet, long ago I realized that much of my ministry 
should be spent in trying to keep folk from opening 
God’s closed doors. Leading men of the ages have 
given themselves to this worthy task. I think, for 
example, of Wordsworth. When the Napoleonic 
War broke out in 1793, he wrote his first poem. 
This was the beginning of his many closed-door 
messages to the war-riven people of England and 
Europe. Amid the death struggles of Napoleon 
and Wellington, when the empire trembled in the 
balance, the great English poet sang of the cuckoo 
and the nightingale, the robin and the linnet, the 
meadow and the stream. What was this but an at¬ 
tempt to keep closed the war door with its distress¬ 
ing scenes of pain and death ? 

Let us look at some of these closed doors of the 
Lord. I hear a knock—Who’s there?—“Just a 
friend to tell you what you might have been” 
Your visitor quotes: “ Of all sad words of tongue 
or pen, the saddest are these—it might have been.” 
Well, yes, I might have been a Lincoln. But I’m 
not—and what’s the use of talking about it? The 
buttercup might have been a rose—but it isn’t. 



GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


137 


And finally heaven looks down and says, “ I want 
a buttercup just where a buttercup is growing.” 
And that’s the blessed end of my worry about not 
being what I might have been. So, henceforth, 
that door remains closed. 

Another knock—there it goes again. Who’s 
there this time ? There steps in a friend to tell me 
something he has just heard about that trouble I 
had with Mr. and Mrs. Jones, neighbours of mine. 
I tell him that it is all past. But he assures me 
it isn’t. He has heard something new about it. 
Yes, the British treated us rather badly nearly a 
century and a half ago. But that is all over, and 
the door was closed long ago. Why open it again ? 
It would do no good, and it is certain it would do 
harm. That neighbour-trouble was settled months 
ago. The family episode was past a year ago. The 
door was closed, and without a shadow of a doubt, 
God intends it to stay closed. Then, why open it ? 
It would only violate a life-principle. It is a simi¬ 
lar law that is at work in the physical world. You 
are wounded. The wound heals. What does that 
mean? It means that Nature has closed the door 
against the injury. Now, just try to open the 
wound, and you will soon see how vitally you have 
violated a primary law of Nature. Yes, when God 
closes a door, we suffer when we attempt to open 
it. For example, this is the fundamental cause of 
the present Irish trouble, trying to open a door of 
history that was closed more than a century ago. 


138 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


Another knock. What is it this time ? Fear . It 
is early in the morning. You have just arisen. And 
you are not feeling very well. This visitor wants 
to recall to you that sickness you had a year ago. 
He tells you that the article of Dr. Brady’s you 
read the evening before in the Buffalo News on 
Cancer really should concern you. In fact, your 
symptoms look just like the beginning of that dis¬ 
ease. And he reminds you that your dear grand¬ 
mother died of the same malady. Yes, there’s some 
truth in all this. But there are five hundred 
chances to one that they do not apply to your con¬ 
dition more than to the man in Mars. Close the 
door on fear, this arch-enemy of the human heart. 
Let him in, and, like an invisible moth, he will eat 
away the hidden fibre of your soul’s strength and 
happiness. Somewhere the other day, I came 
across these lines: 

u I have closed the door on Fear, 

He has lived with me far too long, 

Were he to knock and speak and reappear, 

I would lift my; eye, and look at the sky, 

And sing aloud, and run lightly by; 

For he’ll never follow a song.’* 

Still another knock. What is it this time ? Dis¬ 
content. He stands there waiting to get in to tell 
you how he sympathizes with you over your cir¬ 
cumstances in life. How sorry he is for you that 
there are so many things you might have, but which 
you haven’t. It’s altogether too bad. 

But wait. Tell me, after all, just what would 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


139 


make you really content and happy. Did you ever 
look up the meaning of that word “ happy ” ? 
Well, its real meaning is told by a prominent 
writer. It is this: “ Having what you never 

have.” That’s it exactly. We are discontent with 
what we have, and when we get what we long for 
we are discontent till we get something more. Just 
as it was with Alexander the Great. He conquered 
one city, and another, and still he was discontented. 
Finally, he conquered the world, and then wept be¬ 
cause there was no other world to conquer. That’s 
the way of the human soul; all the things of time 
and sense can never satisfy it: it is too high and 
too deep to ever be filled with anything material. 
We see this very early in life. How soon we ob¬ 
serve that childhood is really never satisfied. One 
day I took my little boy down town on his birth¬ 
day, and gave him about everything his heart could 
desire. On the way home he put his arm around 
my neck, kissed me, and said, “ Daddie, this is the 
best time I’ve ever had.” I was glad in the thought 
that he was perfectly satisfied. But no sooner had 
I thought it, than he whispered, “ an ice-cream cone 
would be fine now.” And you know, we are all 
largely children yet. 

You think you would be perfectly satisfied, if 
you had a fine house, like the Smiths, or a Packard, 
like the Browns. But you wouldn’t. Mr. Glad¬ 
stone realized this, and one day, after he stood look¬ 
ing into a. store window, he turned to his friend, 


140 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


and remarked, “ I am happy.” “ Why are you 
happy ? ” asked his companion. “ I am happy,” re¬ 
plied the great statesman, “ that there are so many 
things in this world I don’t need in order to make 
me satisfied.” So, what you now have seems to be 
God’s closed door. Until He opens it and leads 
you into a room of larger gifts, in sweet content¬ 
ment keep it closed. 

And yet another knock. How many are the trav¬ 
elers that stop to enter doors that are not to be 
opened? And here is another of them. This time 
it is Sin. He wants to remind you of those sins 
you’ve committed, especially that “ Great trans¬ 
gression.” You fought that thing out long ago. 
You took it a score of times to the Lord in prayer. 
You passed through a long night of remorse and 
penitence. And finally the day of peace dawned. 
Since then it has been a closed matter between you 
and the Father. And now this intruder would have 
you open the door again. Don’t do it. If you do, 
you’ll sin against the redeeming love of God. You 
will violate the everlasting atonement wrought out 
for you by the Saviour of all the earth. 

That is God’s way. When He shuts the door, He 
shuts the door. That’s why He sent Jesus into the 
world that men might know His everlasting forgive¬ 
ness and righteousness. Jesus called it Eternal 
Life. 

What was the Cross but God’s door clanged 
shut forever against our sin. It shut us in with 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


141 


God, and all sin was left without. And why was 
the veil of the temple rent in twain from the top 
to the bottom ? Because never again was there to 
be anything that would separate men from direct 
communion with God. We were then admitted into 
the immediate presence of God with sins forgiven 
and complete restoration into perfect one-ness with 
Him forever. That the veil, the symbol of our 
separateness from Him, was completely rent, means 
that the door of forgiveness and restoration was 
closed forever. Hot long ago a man with a break¬ 
ing heart came to see me. He had grievously 
sinned. And it seemed to him that his future was 
completely undone. He was very penitent. He 
had asked the Lord by night and day to forgive 
him. And yet he was disconsolate. I assured him 
that God had entirely forgiven him, and that the 
incident, in the sight of the Father of men, was 
closed. I then proceeded to show him that the Lord 
was now concerned only about his future. That 
“ Go, and sin no more ” was His message now. 
“ Cut out the past,” I said, “ and make good in the 
future.” As if a light from Heaven shot through 
his soul, he jumped to his feet, took his hat, clasped 
my hand, and, with radiant resolve in every line 
of his face, he exclaimed, “ Thank you, thank you, 
I see it all. God has closed the matter, and I have 
kept it open. I must keep my eyes and feet toward 
future success.” In a moment he was gone. The 
last word I received from him was one of thanks 


142 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


for that vision of God’s closed door of forgiveness 
and to say that from that moment he had known 
nothing but success. 

One more knock. Who is it this time? Sorrow . 
Come in and sit down, for I am always ready to 
talk with anyone who is interested in my sorrow. 
But before my visitor leaves, strange doubts hang 
like a morning mist above my head. My heart has 
lost its peace. And I am altogether disquieted. 
And why should I be so troubled? For, months 
ago I gave my dear one back to the arms of her 
Saviour whom she always loved and served. And 
ever since then a peculiar peace dwelt in my heart. 
But now it is disturbed. And I am wondering 
whether there really is a future life, and whether 
we really ever shall be with our dear ones again. 
Ah, I opened God’s closed door of immortality. 
Even Jesus never tried to open it. He just took 
it for granted, and talked about it. And you know 
that nineteen centuries ago Jesus forever sealed the 
door against death when He rose from the tomb. 
Death had been as a poisonous reptile to the human 
race. But now the fang is taken out of it. And 
so Paul exclaimed, “ 0 death, where is thy sting ? ” 
It is gone forever. And now we sing with the 
apostle: 

(( Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

One more scene. The soldiers were waiting to 
put our Saviour to death. The Cross was not far 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


143 


off. Jesus entered the garden, and fell on His face 
“ exceeding sorrowful even unto death.” Now note 
His prayer, “ If it he possible, let this cup pass from 
me,” and then He added, “ nevertheless, not as I 
will, but as thou wilt.” Then He arose and went 
to His disciples. He returned. Again He returned 
for the last time to the disciples and said these 
significant words, “ the hour is come * * * 

arise, let us be going.” What had God revealed to 
Him ? Listen, as down over the hills of time the 
Master whispers it to us—God’s door of Christ’s 
atoning death was closed from that moment when 
man first sinned. Yes, for we read He was “ slain 
from the foundation of the world.” It was there¬ 
fore impossible to open it. Eor “ without the shed¬ 
ding of blood there is no remission of sin.” That’s 
why Jesus declared he “ must needs suffer ” It 
was God’s closed redemptive door that no man, not 
even Jesus, could open. It must be done; men 
must be saved. J esus must die. And now He says, 
u follow me.” So when God’s door of death or 
trial of any kind is closed, don’t try to open it. 
Like the Master, when you find it cannot be opened, 
arise and take up your cross. 

Open Doors Ahead 

And do not overlook the truth—the important 
fact—in the story of our text, that finally God 
opens up another greater door than He closes. 

The prophet told the widow to go out and sell 


144 


GOD’S CLOSED DOORS 


her oil, pay her debts and on the remainder live, 
she and her family, in plenty. So just keep in 
mind that beyond God’s closed doors of to-day, He 
has far better open doors for to-morrow. 

Then whatever door God bids us enter, let us 
enter it, without a murmur. And when He shuts 
the door, let us be careful not to open till He bids 
us do it. And let us remember that, in the recess 
of His Loving Father-heart, He has for us new 
open doors, through which, in His own appointed 
time and way, we shall enter into the treasury of 
His “ unsearchable riches.” For— 

“ Whatever comes each passing day, 

Whatever comes along my way, 

Somewhere, in God’s great treasure room* 

He holds for me rich gifts in store, 

If I enter in,—and close the door.” 


XI 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 

u On the east were three gates; and on the north three 
gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three 
gates.” —Revelation 21:13. 

T HE City of God with its gates could he 
seen by John only from a great eminence. 
The apostle says, “ He carried me away 
in the spirit to a mountain great and high, and 
showed me the holy city Jerusalem.” We note fur¬ 
ther the help of the Holy Spirit was also required. 
“ He carried me away in the Spirit.” With such 
conditions before us, may the Spirit of the Lord 
lead us up sufficiently high to catch a glimpse of 
the walls of the Holy City. 

First, let us see the importance of the gates in 
early days. They were the places of public resort. 
It was at the gates the people met for business and 
social intercourse. We read that “ Lot sat in the 
gate of Sodom ”; that “ Ephron answered Abraham 
in the audience of the children of Heth at the gate 
of his city ”; that “ Absalom stole the hearts of the 
men of Israel at the gate of the city”; that Ezra 
“ read the law to the people gathered together into 
the broad place before the gate/' The gates were 

also used for the administration of justice and for 

145 


146 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


the audience of kings. We read, “ The * * * 

rebellious son is to be brought before the elders of 
the city at the gates ”; that, “ King David sat in 
the gate, and the people came before him ”; that 
“ the kings of Israel and Judah sat in an open place 
at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the 
prophets prophesied before them.” Moreover, the 
gate was the only point through which the enemy 
gained an entrance. It was also the only point 
through which a citizen or refugee could gain ad¬ 
mittance. Its importance in ancient days is there¬ 
fore hard to overestimate. The gate seemed to 
stand for all for which the city stood. It seemed 
to be the very entrance way into the presence of 
Jehovah. “ 0, enter into His gates with praise,” 
says the Psalmist. Listen to Jacob at Bethel, 
“ This is none other than the house of God * * * 
the gate of heaven.” We read of “ The gates of 
righteousness”; “ The gates of Jehovah”; “The 
gates of death ”; “ the gates of the grave ”; “ the 
gates of Hades.” 

The gates stood for strength, for power, for do¬ 
minion, for salvation, and for praise. “ Thou 
shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise.” 
And then the Doxology of the Psalmist—“ Lift up 
your heads, 0 ye gates, and be lifted up, ye ever¬ 
lasting doors, and the king of glory will come in.” 

This City of God is the “ Hew Heaven and Hew 
Earth,” wherein dwelleth righteousness, “ coming 
down out of heaven from God,” and “ Having the 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


147 


glory of God.” It seems to be the kingdom of God 
about which Jesus so often spoke, and which He 
came to establish among the sons of men. It has 
four walls, facing respectively,—East, Horth, West 
and South. And each wall possesses three gates. 
Let us now examine these gates with the purpose 
of ascertaining the significance of each as a means 
of entering the Kingdom of Heaven. 

“ On the East three gates.” The East stood for 
the rising of the sun— light, wisdom . Did not the 
wise men come from the East? Was not the East 
the direction of learning, knowledge, intelligence, 
truth? It thus stood for the fear of God, the be¬ 
ginning of wisdom; for the one who is the Light 
of the world, and on account of whom heaven needs 
no sun. The first to greet His advent were men 
from the East. He was the embodiment of truth. 
“ I am the * * * truth,” he declared. u Grace 
and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Through this 
gate we must enter into the kingdom. “ I am the 
door,” “ the way,” the gate, He said. Over and over 
again He emphasized the necessity of passing 
through this gate. 

The East also stood for the throne, the dwelling - 
place, of Jehovah. Three times a day Daniel lifted 
his window toward the East and prayed with his 
face in that direction. This gate of prayer is es¬ 
sential. It is difficult to understand how the King¬ 
dom of God can be entered without prayer. Jesus 
declared, “ Men ought at all times to pray.” Paul 


148 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


exhorted the early Christians to “ pray without 
ceasing.*’ The thief of the cross entered Paradise 
on the wings of prayer. Even Jesus Himself on 
the Cross, after completing His redemptive sacrifice, 
passed through the gate of prayer, into the hands 
of the Father. We pass through this gate into the 
kingdom of health. Hot long since a physician’s 
wife requested me to pray as she passed under the 
influence of the anaesthetic. She came forth in 
health. We pass through the gate of prayer into 
the realm of democracy. Cromwell and his cava¬ 
liers established the imperial glory of British de¬ 
mocracy on the rock foundation of prayer. On the 
morning of the decisive battle of the American 
Revolutionary War, Washington was nowhere to be 
seen. After much search he was found at a dis¬ 
tance behind a clump of trees in prayer for “ the 
coming of the Lord.” Lord Roberts, in the early 
days of the war, warned England the war could not 
be won till we got on our knees. Admiral Beattie, 
during the recent war declared, “ When we pray 
as we ought, the days can be counted when victory 
will be ours.” “ Somehow,” wrote one of our boys 
at the front, “ when we realize that thousands at 
home are praying for us, we can go c over the top 9 
without a flinch.” Yes, we must enter the kingdom 
of universal peace by way of the gate of prayer. 
The first thing for which Jesus told us to pray was 
the coming of the Kingdom—“ Thy Kingdom 
come.” 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


149 


The third East gate is the gate of Service. The 
morning sun calls to work. The night has gone, 
rest is over and now for work. The man who lies 
down at this gate and refuses to enter, will never 
know the blessedness of living. No w T ork, no pay; 
no work, no food; no work, no play; no work, no 
rest; no work, no salvation. “ TV ork out your 
salvation/'’ “ Go work in my vineyard,” said the 
Master. And it must be a service for others. This 
gate is ministerial, not magisterial. Over it hangs 
the insignia, “ Bear ye one another’s burdens.” It 
is the gate of altruism. Unless we enter this gate, 
there is no Kingdom of Heaven for us. “ Inas¬ 
much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, 
ye did it not to me.” Thus the three East gates— 
Wisdom, Prayer and Service. 

Now—the North gate. This gate spoke to the 
ancients of the blighting, barren, bitter cold. “ Out 
of the chamber cometh the * * * cold out of 

the North.” This is the first North gate of 'poverty 
or want. Strangely true, yet true it is, that often 
we are called to walk the way of God through this 
gate. The other day a prominent journalist in 
New York City refused to walk the way and chose 
the short road of suicide. Yet it is on the whole 
easier to enter this gate than the gateway of riches* 
Jesus remarked how hard it was for a rich man to 
enter the kingdom. But He had no such word about 
the poor man. Sometimes the Lord keeps us poor 
in earthly possession that He may keep us rich in 


150 


GOB’S TWELVE GATES 


heavenly treasures. Sometimes He strips us of our 
wealth that He may strip us of our indifference. 
If your lot has been one of recurring need, do not 
repine, for it is likely the gate by which God in¬ 
tends you to enter His realm. 

Then there is the Horth gate of bereavement or 
loss. We wonder betimes why so much sorrow is 
permitted to overtake us. There seems to be no 
purpose to it. Every hour we ask, “ How can 
these things be ? ” And sooner or later every soul 
passes through this gate. Sooner or later every one 
passes into his Gethsemane and finds it impossible 
that the cup should pass from him. It is the gate¬ 
way that leads finally beyond the cross to the crown. 
It has its own peculiar reward. “ These are they 
that came out of great tribulation and washed their 
robes and made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb.” Jesus warned his disciples#that in this 
world they would have much trial, but he added, 
“Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your 
reward in heaven.” This is one of God’s pearly 
gates: don’t fear to enter it. Its pathway leads 
straight up to the right hand of the Father. The 
way is dark and steep, but it is always straight 
toward the heart of Heaven. When the mists have 
rolled away, and you can look backward down the 
darksome way, you will see that the loss of that 
member of your family has been but one of the 
Master’s jewelled gates through which you and 
yours have but passed into a “ far more exceeding 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


151 


and eternal weight of glory.” One of our great 
writers tells of a saintly old aunt of his whose life 
was a volume of sorrow. In her late years she took 
delight in telling of the element of joy there was 
to be found in all sorrow. The Master of men Him¬ 
self passed through this gateway of sorrows—“ for 
the joy that was set before Him.” 

Sickness may he regarded as the third gate of 
the blighting Uorth. How illness transforms. It 
changes the colour of everything it touches. It 
drives away the smile and fills the heart with fear. 
Our outlook is beclouded and our spirit is de¬ 
pressed. Strength fails and life’s fountain seems 
as if to fail. After all, it is another of God’s gates 
of pearl. How many have entered into the glory 
of Heaven through this gate. A few days ago I 
entered a room where a man lay ill. Rarely have 
I visited a home where the Spirit of the Lord 
seemed so imminent. On leaving the house, I re¬ 
marked to the daughter how specially near seemed 
the Divine Presence. “ Yes,” she replied, “ and 
it has all come since father took sick.” Up till a i 
few months before, he had lived an honest, but un¬ 
spiritual life. A few weeks ago I visited what was 
to me a home from heaven sent down. There lay 
upon the bed a man of fifty. He was the nearest 
approach to the Master’s soul I ever hope to meet 
on earth. His presence breathed a divineness not 
his own. I wondered what the secret was. Soon I 
asked him how long he had lain there, and, with a 


152 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


smile that lighted the room, he said, " Thirty-one 
years” His answer told the secret. Passing 
through this third Korth gate of sickness, he be¬ 
came an angel clothed in the flesh. 

And now the three gates of the West. The West 
spoke to the early people, as it does to us, of the 
setting of the sun. The first is the gate of rest ,— 
“ Best at eventide.” In the morning we went out 
through an Eastern gate. But in the evening we 
return through a Western gate—the gate of rest. 
And, remember this is just as truly one of God’s 
gates into His Kingdom as is the gate of work. 
“ He giveth his beloved sleep.” We are apt to over¬ 
look the sacred duty of rest. Heaven has ordained 
that we should sleep nearly one-third of our natural 
lives on earth. Yet all the time we are entering 
through this gate into the Kingdom of Heaven. 
Too many are failing to enter this gateway, and the 
result is a nation of neurotics, a physically under¬ 
mined citizenship. Perhaps there never was a time 
when so many were overworking. And never a 
time when so many were breaking under the strain 
of daily work. Hot long since, a woman asked me 
to call and see her husband. She felt she was los¬ 
ing her husband and home, and all for some unac¬ 
countable reason. I soon detected the cause. Her 
husband was working nights and Sundays, and had 
taken no vacation in two years. I advised an im¬ 
mediate vacation, the stopping of night and Sun¬ 
day work, and regular attendance on at least one of 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


153 


the Sabbath Services. All these were followed. 
Within a month his health was restored and the 
home renewed. It required only ordinary sense to 
effect the cure. But strange to say, like tens of 
thousands of others, that intelligent couple did not 
know wherein lay the cause, or, if they did know, 
they failed to heed it. 

Then there is the second Western gate,—the gate 
of death. To the ancients the West was the waste 
of the great unknown beyond the scan of eye. Our 
soldiers spoke of dying as “ Going West.” Going 
West with the setting sun, but only to rise again 
with the rising sun on the other side of life. This 
gate must be entered. It cannot be avoided, if we 
would enter God’s new city. “ It is appointed unto 
man once to die.” But then think of the triumph 
of this appointment. Jesus, the Prince over death, 
declares, “ Blessed are the dead that die in the 
Lord.” He holds the keys to the gate. He is Mas¬ 
ter of it. He bids us enter. And as we enter, He 
bestows his “ blessed ” upon our brows. He whis¬ 
pers, “ Fear not. * * * I have the keys of 

death.” It is the gate of pearl through which we 
pass on from this sin-sick, war-stricken earth into 
the Hew Earth within which dwells neither sin nor 
sorrow. What a precious gate—swinging open 
upon its jewelled hinges for those who hear God’s 
“ one clear call.” It is the gateway that leads 
straight upward into the arms of the Master of life 
and death. 


154 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


During these after-war days, we are talking 
much of reconstruction. International relations 
must he reconstructed; capital and labour must be 
reconstructed; philosophy and religion must be re¬ 
constructed. And so we go on all along the line of 
life’s activities. But among all these, one of the 
most urgent needs, growing out of the war, is the 
reconstructing of our ideas of death. Death can 
never be to us what it once was—a fearsome calam¬ 
ity. Henceforth, it must be regarded as one of 
God’s gateways into the glory of His Kingdom in 
heaven. We look across the sea to the unnumbered 
mounds beneath the shadow of the little white cruci¬ 
fixes. And from the silence of each we can hear 
the vicarious whisper as of old—“ This is my body 
which is broken for you.” Yes, death has come to 
its own. It has become to us a gateway into a 
larger and fuller life, into a greater and better citi¬ 
zenship^ into a higher and sublimer service. Blessed 
be the Lord for this second gateway of the West. 

Then there is the third gate in the West. It is 
the gate of reward. After the work of the day— 
the sunset—and then the reward. To the Jew this 
pay-time was an extremely important part of the 
day. You remember how Jesus tells us of the 
steward who, when the even was come, called the 
labourers and paid them their hire. He did not 
wait until the end of the week or the month. So 
to the Jew the West spoke of compensation. In a 
larger way it speaks to us all. To His disciples 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


155 


Jesus said, that they would have much to do; that 
there would he much hardship to endure; and that 
sore trial would come upon them in their work. 
But He hade them be of good cheer; He counseled 
them as to the priceless reward that lay beyond their 
toil and trial. He pointed out to them this gate 
beset with the pearls of rich reward. “ Rejoice and 
be exceeding glad,” said He, “ for great is your re¬ 
ward in heaven.” Often the clouds of trial hide 
from us this precious gate of compensation. And 
it takes the eye of faith to penetrate the mist. And 
just here is where we too often fail. We confront 
our troubles but have not faith sufficient to see the 
reward that awaits us a little way ahead. The 
very essence of life is compensative. God has made 
it on this plan. For God himself is the “ rewarder 
of them that diligently seek Him.” He has made 
His world machinery on the plan that “ work out 
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory.” While the chief end of man is to glorify 
God forever, the chief end of the Father of men, 
so far as He has revealed Himself to us, is to 
glorify His children everywhere. See Him wher¬ 
ever and whenever you will, and c< Behold, His re¬ 
ward is with Him.” Glorious third gate of the 
West—keep it ever before you, and strive to 
enter it. 

Finally, the fourth way.—The wall with its gates 
toward the South. To the minds of all ages the 
South has always spoken of beautiful gardens, trees 



156 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


and flowers. It is in the Southland that we find 
Nature clothed in her sublimest beauty. The first 
gate in this Southern wall might, therefore, be 
called the gate Beautiful. Happy the man who 
passes through it. For in so doing there is opened 
to him a glory of the Lord that is never seen on 
land or sea. It is through this gate we must pass, 
if we are to see the King in His beauty. If you 
would enter into the beauty of holiness, you must 
pass through this gate. 0, how much of God’s 
splendour is hidden from the eyes of men, because 
we fail to enter the Kingdom through this gateway 
of the beautiful. What the Psalmist would have 
missed had he not considered God’s heavens, the 
w r ork of His fingers, the moon and the stars which 
He ordained. How poor would have been our 
world had Jesus failed to see the glory of the 
Father in the lilies of the field. 

The second gate in the South wall,—the gate of 
prosperity. Down in the sunny South waved the 
fields of com and wine. Up from the prosperous 
South came the treasures of old, full and manv. 
It is a good thing to be rich, provided our riches 
lead us upward. God has always intended some 
to be rich. And it has always been His purpose 
that such prosperity should be a gate of pearl 
through which men should enter into His presence 
and fulfill His highest will. Jesus never con¬ 
demned the rich; He pitied them. He pitied them 
because they allowed their riches to lead them away 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


157 


from his Kingdom, whereas they were intended to 
he a gateway through which they might enter into 
the Kingdom. 

Many are standing to-day as never before in the 
gateway of prosperity. They have health, plenty 
and happiness to an extent never before experi¬ 
enced. But what a tragedy that so many are en¬ 
joying it for only a little while outside the city 
walls. They have found no gateway by which to 
enter with their prosperity. A clarion call goes 
out from every mountain top to-day to men of 
means—to consecrate their prosperity to the usher¬ 
ing in of the Kingdom far and near. So bring 
your treasures new and old into the City of God. 
Ho man owns a dollar. He is just its steward. 
Invest it for the Giver and His Kingdom here, that 
His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. 
Men are sick, help them; they are in prison, visit 
them; they are hungry, feed them; they are naked, 
clothe them; they are drifting, save them. Every¬ 
where the angels of Heaven are calling for money 
to establish the Rule of the King of Kings upon 
the earth. They have thrown wide open the gates 
of riches, health and prosperity as never before. 
And they bid you enter through it into the King¬ 
dom of Heaven with every gift you have. They 
seem to tell us that over this gateway is inscribed 
the lines: 

" I gave my life for thee. 

What hast thou given for me ? ” 


158 


GOD’S TWELVE GATES 


The last South gate has the significance of 
liberty. Listen to the Psalmist pleading for his 
captive people, “ Turn again our captivity, O Je¬ 
hovah, as streams in the South.” Here we seem 
to have war and liberty coming from the South. 
I wonder whether Jesus had any thought of this 
when he spoke of the “ wars and rumours of wars,” 
and then his reign of peace and good-will over all 
the earth. At any rate history tells the story over 
and over again of first whirlwind and then liberty. 

These twelve gates are all united within the four 
walls of the one great City of God. Questions of 
race, or creed, or class are not asked of those who 
enter. Side by side they enter, rich and poor, 
learned and unlettered, the classes and the masses. 
They are no respecter of persons, these gates of 
God. They regard not the petty distinctions that 
have so long divided the visible Church of Christ. 
Somehow the various branches of the Church have 
come to realize as never before that they are but 
different gateways into the Kingdom. Everywhere 
throughout the country communions are coming to¬ 
gether. We are learning that all the gates belong 
to the four walls of the self-same City of God. 
When we have entered these gates, we shall find 
that after all our differences are left behind, that 
we are children of one common Father, servants 
of the one King of Kings, and brothers one of an¬ 
other. Then, waiving more and more our non- 
essential differences, let us lift our eyes to the hills 


GOD'S TWELVE GATES 


159 


to the Hew Kingdom coming down from God out 
of heaven. Let us gird our loins for every duty 
and seek to “ enter into His gates with praise.” 

The glory that waits us within the City of God 
passes all our present understanding. It is pos¬ 
sible to enter most of these gates and know their 
blessedness, even while yet upon this earth. Then 
let us enter them at once. Why live longer outside 
the walls of God’s great Kingdom City ? Why not 
enter at once through absolute consecration to Him, 
who is the Way—the Door ? And God shall begin 
at once to tabernacle with us and to wipe away all 
tears from our eyes. And also lead others after us. 
Tor as John wrote, “ They shall bring the glory and 
honour of the nations into it.” 


XII 


HOW TO PRAY 

" Lord, teach us to pray .”— Luke 11:1. 

T HERE was something peculiarly magnetic 
about J esus when he returned from 
prayer. So the disciples, seeing this, 
made the great request of our text. Perhaps they 
observed in Him an extraordinary serenity, or a 
resolute calmness of some kind. Or, possibly, His 
face bore still the radiance of His mountain fel¬ 
lowship with the Father. In any event, He im¬ 
pressed the disciples with the beauty, the joy and 
the strength of His praying, such as they did not 
possess. And now they seek His help—“ Lord, 
teach us to pray.” 

There is a way to pray. Shall we call it the art 
of praying? Or shall we term it the science of 
prayer? It. matters little. It is sufficient to say 
that our prayers are successful largely according to 
how we pray. 

To know how to pray, let us first ask what prayer 
is. Looking back over the pages of Holy Writ, we 
find the first instance of prayer is spoken as calling 
upon the Lord. It was when, at the command of 

God, Abraham went out from Ur of the Chaldees, 

160 


HOW TO PRAY 


161 


not knowing whither he went. We read that when 
the shades of night closed in about him, he pitched 
his tent, “ and there he builded an altar * * * 

and called upon the name of the Lord It was 
just the far call of his inmost soul to the One whose 
inner voice in him he was now obeying. It was 
the response of his deepest intuition—the simple 
deep of his soul calling to its God-filled deep. And 
after all, this is the only kind of prayer there is in 
its last analysis. It’s the root from which has 
sprung all true prayer from the most primitive to 
the most modern days. 

This 'Call in Prayer sometimes takes the form of 
a Cry. Hear the Psalmist no less than twenty- 
three times telling us how he cried unto the Lord. 
“ In my distress,” he says, “ I cried unto the Lord, 
and He answered me.” How often sorrow, like a 
flood, overwhelms us, and we have no language 
but a cry. 

“ So runs my dream: but what am I 
An infant crying in the night: 

An infant crying for the light: 

And with no language but a cry.” 

The world understands not the cry of the infant, 
but the mother does. It is perfectly plain to her 
and she knows the language of the cry. The world 
may not know the meaning of our heart’s deepest 
cry. But the soft mother heart of Heaven know3 
all about it. He understands the cry of His child 
and answers the need. Hot long since, I stood be- 


i 


162 


HOW TO PRAY 


side the bed upon which lay the devoted dying wife 
of one of my officials. Soon her spirit took its 
trackless flight, and he was left alone, benumbed. 
Suddenly, he fled from the room with the wails of 
a broken heart—with no language but a cry . The 
next day, with soul composed, he remarked to me, 
“ Yes, my heart was torn, but the Lord heard my 
cry, so that now I can take up my cross.” 

What was the Garden prayer of Christ but the 
solemn cry of His burdened heart? But how it 
was answered when with intrepid foot, He went 
forth and bore His Cross to victory! Yes, my 
friends, your trial may so paralyze your tongue 
that words fail you, and only a cry is left. But 
so sure as you are living, the Great Father heart 
hears the prayer of your cry to Him, and in His 
love, He will answer it as truly as if it had been 
clothed in the sublimest of words. 

Sometimes prayer is the seeking after the for¬ 
giveness and favour of God . When ancient guilty 
peoples entered the presence of their kings, ofttimes 
the faces of their monarchs were turned away in 
anger and displeasure. Humbly and slowly they 
went forth toward the thrones of their majesties. 
Whereupon, on reaching the throne, each subject 
kneeling and stretching his hands gently stroked 
the face of the offended sovereign, till it pleased 
him to turn his face again in forgiveness and 
favour. This is the Psalmist’s picture of prayer 


HOW TO PRAY 


163 


when he declares, “ Thy face, O Lord, will I seek; 
hide not Thy face from me.” 

How often, when we approach God in prayer, 
it seems as if His face were turned from us. How 
little seems the sense of response or fellowship. 
And yet, can we wonder why ? Think of the thou¬ 
sand things we did during the day that we 
ought not to have done and the hundred things we 
left undone that it was our duty to have done. 
Then we cease to wonder that our sin-hating God 
and Father should seem to turn His face from us, 
till we have humbly repented of our offenses against 
Him. 

Prayer is not a matter of words. It is an ex¬ 
perience. It is an experience before God. To give 
a definition of prayer is almost impossible. For 
prayer far transcends the touch of words. Per¬ 
haps, however, an illustration will help us. Many 
of us have at one time or another stood beside the 
lifeless form of a dear one. And the tear trickled 
down our cheeks. Why? Hot because the eyes 
were closed and the lips were silent and the hands 
were still. Ho. It was for the reason that when 
we spoke, there was no response: when we lifted 
the hand, it fell back as it was. In other words, 
the communion ties of love were severed, and we 
seemed to be left alone. After all, the sorrow of 
bereavement is in the last analysis the sorrow of 
loneliness. The sense of fellowship is broken. 
And all this goes down far below the reach of 


164’ 


HOW TO PRAY 


human words. On the other hand, we all know 
the joy of companionship with our dear ones. 
Wives and husbands, you know the joy that fills 
your heart when you sit together in your homes in 
the eventide; when perhaps not a word is spoken. 
Mothers and fathers, you know the joy of the re¬ 
union with your children from day to day and from 
time to time. Sons and daughters, you know the 
joy of entering into the presence of your parents. 
What is all this joy but the spoken or unspoken 
communion of kindred spirits one with the other ? 
And how far it transcends human words. So is it 
with prayer. It is communion of the spirit of the 
creature with the Spirit of the Creator; the Spirit 
of God with the spirit of man; the Spirit of the 
Father with the spirit of His child. You can’t 
define it; you can’t explain it. It is an experience 
of the soul. So, after all, if you don’t know what 
prayer is, I can no more tell you than I could tell 
a blind man what colour is. You must experience 
it to understand it. 

Prayer, then, is a personal fellowship . It is the 
act by which man, reaching forth his hand of faith, 
touches the great dynamic centre of the Universe. 
It is personal and vital contact with the motor 
centre of all human energies. It is the coming 
down into the human soul of the purifying, uplift¬ 
ing and energizing power of Heaven. It is that 
which puts the glow of courage into the heart, and 
the beam of chastity upon the cheek. It is that 

\ 


HOW TO PRAY 


1G5 


which sends a man hack to his problem with a new 
ideal and a firm resolve. Not long ago an elderly 
lady remarked to me, u When my heart is heavy, 
I just go up to my room, close the door, and get 
down on my knees, and tell the dear Lord all about 
it. Soon my heaviness leaves me. And when I 
return to my work, everything seems new; the birds 
seem to sing a new song and the clouds seem to 
have gone.” My dear hearers, do you know such 
experience? If you do, you know the reality of 
prayer. 

It is this that makes prayer its tremendous force 
in the experience of every true praying life. It is 
this that defies all argument. In fact, there is no 
argument for prayer. It needs no argument 
Men find that prayer is a force, and they pray. 
They find it is a vital fact, and they care little 
about its explanation. What the philosophy of it 
may be does not signify. Its fruit is power and 
peace, so what matters else when this exists ? 

Without this personal communion with God, the 
source of all life, the soul must surely fail in its 
robustness. Its vitalizing function is impaired. 
Its vision is narrowed. Its faith is weakened. 
With it, every day is a day of hope, every hour is 
an hour of power. Business men, you need it when 
you face each new day of your problems of com¬ 
merce. Women of the home, you need it to over¬ 
come the ten thousand perplexities that meet you 
in your daily duty. Young men and maidens, you 


166 


HOW TO PRAY 


need it every day as you launch out upon the allur¬ 
ing highway of life. 

Prayer is not a luxury. It is not a passing joy. 
Ho. It is a labour. Jesus rested after praying. 
The spiritual sweat should be upon our brows when 
we are through praying. So far as energy is con¬ 
cerned, I should rather preach half an hour than 
pray five minutes. For think of what it means.—• 
The creature spirit in vital communion with the 
great creative Spirit of God. Every fibre of the 
human body, soul and spirit is brought under the 
direct reflex of Heaven. 

Perhaps you say, “ I do not know such experi¬ 
ences in prayer.” If you don’t, be assured there’s 
a reason for it. Possibly you have missed the per¬ 
sonal part of prayer. A few years ago I asked a 
gathering of Sunday-school pupils how many of 
them “ said their prayers.” Every hand in the 
place went up. Then I asked how many of them 
“ prayed.” In their confusion, only two or three 
hands appeared. Perhaps you have been only “ say¬ 
ing your prayers.” This is the reason so many 
prayers are so powerless and so meaningless. They 
have been more of an exercise than an experience. 

Count on it, God never hears prayers that are 
merely “ said.” He never hears words. He hears 
only His child calling or crying at His feet. There 
are no long prayers or short prayers in the eyes of 
our Father in Heaven. He never recognizes good 
English or poor English. “ A broken and a con- 


HOW TO PRAY 


167 


trite heart, O God, Thou will not despise.” The 
Pharisee said an eloquent prayer; it was scarcely 
noticed in Heaven. The publican breathed but a 
sentence, and it moved the heart of God. 

Look at our prayers, and see what many of them 
mean. Before we retire, weary from the toil or 
pleasure of the day, do we not usually pop down 
upon our knees, utter a few eloquent oft-repeated 
words, pop up again, get into bed, our prayers said, 
the lights out, our duty done and everything in 
order, and now for sleep ? And then we wonder 
why prayer is not the life-giving, life-controlling, 
life-destining force it is said to he. 

No. It doesn’t matter much whether you pray 
five minutes or half an hour. Neither does the 
Lord care much so long as you pour out your heart 
in thirstful solicitation before God. Penitently, 
trustfully, lovefully commune with Heaven—that’s 
all. There isn’t a word in all Scripture or reason 
that gives any virtue to quantitative prayer. But 
every syllable calls for the qualitative kind. The 
tongue says prayers, the soul breathes them, for 
prayer is the very breath of the soul. 

Now comes the oft-repeated question: Does God 
answer prayer? To answer this question, if you 
are a parent, look into your heart as you deal with 
your child. Or call to memory your father’s deal¬ 
ings with you. You know you dealt in one of four 
ways with ^every petition of your child. You an¬ 
swered it at once as requested; you delayed your 


168 


HOW TO PRAY 


answer; you answered, but largely differing from 
the request; or you could not answer the petition 
whatever. In every case fathomless love for your 
child and superior judgment guided you. In a 
similar way does the Father treat our prayers. 
For, “ God dealeth with you as with sons.” 

Sometimes, He answers at once; did He not so 
answer the dying thief? Sometimes He delays; 
did not Jesus wait several days though Lazarus 
lay at the point of death? And when He did an¬ 
swer the urgent appeal of Mary and Martha, He 
did more than they requested; He raised their 
brother from the dead. So when the delayed an¬ 
swer comes, depend upon it, we receive ample in¬ 
terest on the time we’ve waited. Then it may be 
God will answer only in part; did He not so an¬ 
swer Paul’s prayer for deliverance from the stormy 
sea ? The passengers were all saved, while the ship 
and its cargo went down. It may be that, for some 
good reason, only part of our prayers will be an¬ 
swered; our health may be restored but our prop¬ 
erty destroyed. 

Sometimes the answer differs vastly from the 
prayer; did not the prodigal receive a vastly dif¬ 
ferent answer than that he should become as one 
of his father’s servants? Yes, sometimes God so 
answers our prayers that we scarcely recognize the 
answer. 

Again, sometimes our prayers as such are never 
answered. Surely no one on earth had greater 


i 


HOW TO PRAY 


169 


claim for answer to his prayer than Paul. The 
great apostle prayed long and fervently that the 
thorn might he removed from his side. But it was 
never removed. Yet see the reflex blessing of this 
thorn as we hear him declare, “ Most gladly, there¬ 
fore, will I glory in my infirmities that the power 
of Christ may rest upon me.” Think of it, no an¬ 
swer hut the power of Christ upon us. Surely, 
after all, there could be no better answer. The 
thorn, the burden of your passing days, has never 
been removed, though with tears you have never 
ceased to pray for its removal. History and per¬ 
sonal observation are full of testimony that all the 
while, though perhaps unconscious to you, it is be¬ 
coming the sweetening, softening and saving power 
of Christ to you. 

Then so much of the real glory and blessedness 
of prayers is missed because so large proportion 
of them are unconsciously self-centered and self- 
absorbed. How little Jesus prayed for Himself; 
how much He prayed for others. From beginning 
to end, His prayers were intercessory. Even His 
last petition amid His agony was for others,— 
“ Father, forgive them; for they know not what 
they do.” It is safe to say nine-tenths of our 
prayers are for ourselves, while that proportion 
should be for others. And thereby we miss much 
of the real joy and power in prayer. 

Again, our prayer should be chiefly for the glory 
of God. Hear Jesus pray in the Garden first, “ If 



170 


HOW TO PRAY 


it be possible, let this cup pass;” finally, “ Not my 
will but Thine be done.” Then went He to the 
disciples and said, “ Arise, let us be going.” He 
was ready for the cross. My dear hearer, there are 
crosses we cannot bear till, like our great Cross¬ 
bearer, we come to the point in our prayer when 
we cry, “ Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be 
done.” 

After all, and in its last analysis, prayer is but 
the swinging of the soul into line with the will of 
God. It is the door through which we enter into 
submission to the highest purposes of Heaven for 
us. Its true answer is in the opening of our 
hearts’ doors that the love, the peace, and the power 
of the will of the Father may enter us unfettered. 

So, I pray not so much that God will keep me 
from stress or trial, as that, when it comes, I may 
have grace to bear it unflinchingly and uncom¬ 
plainingly ; not so much that I may always succeed, 
as that, when at times I fail, there may be given 
me the courage and the wisdom to rise up and 
faithfully try again. Not so much that God’s sun 
may always shine above my head, as that, when the 
day grows dull and the night comes on, my lamp 
of faith may bum on, undimmed; that through 
calm and storm, through light and dark, through 
pleasure and pain, through joy and sorrow, through 
wealth and poverty, I may ever bear about in my 
breast more and more the true prayer of the Master 
when He prayed, “ Father, glorify Thy name.” 


HOW TO PRAY 


171 


So, till we reach this upland level of prayer, “Lord, 
teach us to pray” 

“ O Thou, by whom we come to God, 

The Life, the Truth, the Way. 

The path of prayer Thyself hast trod; 

Lord, teach us how to pray.” 

We must pray. Our being constitutionally de¬ 
mands it. So we have no discretion any more than 
whether we shall eat or sleep or breathe. It i3 a 
vital exercise of the soul. Our strength and our 
progress and our destiny depend upon it. Then let 
us grow proficient in it. So that we may pray 
with something of the power that came to Jesus 
when He communed with heaven. 


XIII 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE * 

“ And they shall beat their sioords into ploioshares and 
their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up 
suyord against nation , neither shall they learn war any 
more ”— Isaiah 2:4. 


T HIS is a real disarmament text: “ And 
they shall beat their swords into plow¬ 
shares and their spears into pruning- 
hooks.” This, says the prophet, is to take place 
“ in the latter days.” In any event the nations of 
the world are coming together to consider the ful¬ 
fillment of this prophecy. In other words, the peo¬ 
ples of earth are about to confer with the worthy 
object of turning the cost of War Armament into 
the channels of Peace. 

But more. This is also a permanent world— 
Peace text. Read it again: “ Ration shall not lift 
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more” This means that there will come a day 
when war itself shall cease. This is the ultimate 
object of the approaching Conference. We pray it 
may literally fulfill the far-reaching prediction of 
the prophet. Still further. The prophet tells us 
how nations are to finally settle their disputes one 

* Preached on the eve of the World Armament Conference 
at Washington, November 6, 1921. 



WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


173 


with the other. In the verse of our text, we read, 
in the Revised Version: “ And He will judge be- 
tween the nations.’’ The sword shall no longer 
decide between nations. Armies and navies shall 
give place to the Judge of all the earth. “ He will 
teach us of His ways,” declares the prophet, “ and 
we will walk in His paths.” What are His ways ? 
Isaiah tells us a little later that they are established 
“ with justice and with righteousness.” And the 
Psalmist says, “ All the paths of the Lord are lov¬ 
ing-kindness and truth.” 

I want you to note still further that all this is 
to come through the channel of the Church. For 
we read further (in the verse preceding our text): 
“ And many peoples shall * * * say, Come ye, 
and let us go up to the house of the God of Jacob 
* * * for out of Zion shall go forth the law.” 

The Church is to be the fountain in God’s hands 
from which is to rise and flow down the streams 
of “ justice” and “ righteousness ” and “ brotherly 
kindness ” and “ truth.” 

How, it is important that the nations shall first 
see the need of disarming. First, Because war is 
too destructive . Consider the last war. The Dan¬ 
ish Research Society says that no less than nineteen 
million six hundred and fifty-eight thousand men 
came to death in the World War. Imagine for a 
moment what that means. Think of it—if these 
men were to start to-night to walk by this Church, 
six abreast, walking day and night, never ceasing, 


174 ' 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


the last six would pass next Easter morning, five 
months from now. If they were joining hands to¬ 
night, they would belt the earth at the Equator. 
If they were buried one foot apart, their graves 
would reach from here to Australia. The same 
society declares that directly and indirectly the war 
cost the human race 70,460,000 lives, as many souls 
as are in every city and village in the United 
States. 

The world Peace Foundation says the World 
War cost three hundred and fifty billion dollars. 
Think of it—this fabulous sum spent for the pur¬ 
pose of destroying the world and exterminating the 
human race. If this amount were made up of 
silver dollars, and these dollar pieces were placed 
edge to edge, they would encircle the earth four 
hundred times. They would make a line so long 
that it would take a train running night and day 
at fifty miles an hour twenty-five years to reach 
the end. 

O. P. Austin, Statistician of the National City 
Bank, New York City, says that the last war, up 
to 1921, cost the nations engaged in it, three hun¬ 
dred and eighty-three billion dollars. He points 
out that up to 1918, it had cost only two hundred 
and five billions. This means that in three years, 
since the war closed—mark, since the war closed — 
the cost of Wars, Past and Future, has cost no less 
than one hundred and seventy-five billions, an in- 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


175 


crease in time of peace of fifty-three per cent, since 
the Armistice. 

One item of war interest alone accounts for a 
large part of this peace expenditure. Before the 
war, the total yearly interest on the world’s debt 
was one and one-half billions. Now it is nearly 
fifteen billions. Take Germany alone. It is an 
open question whether she will be able to meet the 
yearly demands upon her in settlement of her 
thirty-three billion indebtedness to the Allies. And 
this above all her own war and running expenses. 
And beneath it all a ruined market. Then think of 
Austria, dismembered and bankrupt, for the first 
time in history a nation in the hands of receivers. 

It is an alarming fact that war has placed most 
nations in a critical financial state. Eleven of 
twelve European nations are under crushing taxa¬ 
tion, and yet are spending far beyond their income. 
Three out of every four states in the world, chiefly 
due to wars past and future, are unable by any 
means of taxation whatever to meet running ex¬ 
penses. 

Take our own Republic. The world speaks of 
us now as the richest country on earth. And so we 
are. And yet what do we find? This year the 
estimated deficit of our Government is over two 
billion dollars. Think of it, this deficit alone is 
more than the total amount it took to run our coun¬ 
try any year before the war. And more. The esti¬ 
mate for next year, 1922, is nearly one and a half 


176 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


billions. Of course, Europe owes us ten billions. 
But, if this armament madness goes on, where will 
Europe ever get gold enough to pay us ? 

And more, the proportionate cost of paying for 
past wars and preparing for future ones is alarm¬ 
ing. Stop for a moment and think of it. In forty- 
six years, from 1870 to 1910, it took twenty bil¬ 
lions to run our Government. This year alone it is 
taking 4% billions. And how much of this great 
sum went for wars past and future ? Nearly 3% 
billions. That means 88.4 per cent for war and 
11.6 for general peaceful purposes. Dwell on it 
for a moment, that nearly five out of every six 
dollars you paid this year to the Federal Govern¬ 
ment in taxes on income, merchandise or anything 
else, went for war purposes. And, more deplor¬ 
able than that, more than four dollars of the five 
went toward keeping up armament to prepare for 
future war. For 69.9 per cent of all the Govern¬ 
ment’s income (outside the postal department) 
goes to pay for past wars. 

And, besides all this, war expenses are increas¬ 
ing. Take one item of interest alone, as already 
mentioned. The total interest on the national debts 
of the world is now nearly ten times what it was 
before the last war. The combined war expendi¬ 
tures of Belgium, France, England, Italy, Japan 
and the United States in 1912 was a little over a 
billion dollars. This year it will be nearly 4% 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


177 


billions, an increase in nine years of over 400 per 
cent. 

A glance at the financial condition of the world 
shows that these increasing expenditures spell ruin 
in the not far distant future. Great Britain, a 
former world creditor, is now billions in debt. 
France is stripped and staggering. Germany is all 
but ready to assign. Austria has already gone into 
the hands of a receiver. Russia’s rubles are all but 
worthless. Sixteen per cent of the wages of Japan 
are required to pay the interest on her national 
debt. China was unable the other day to pay a note 
of $5,000,000 to an American bank when it ex¬ 
pired, and wanted $6,000,000 more and was re¬ 
fused. Europe owes America alone ten billions. 
In a word, the nations of the world are for the most 
part insolvent. 

Examine for a minute the United States. Take 
the Army. The Congressional Record, April 30, 
1921, page 849, says that in 1916, before we en¬ 
tered the World War, we had 105,120 officers and 
enlisted men, which cost us yearly $101,000,000, 
or $969 per soldier. In 1921 we have 187,946 offi¬ 
cers, costing us $393,000,000, or $2,088 per sol¬ 
dier, an increase of more than 200 per cent. 

And yet in the face of a two billion deficit this 
year and a billion and a half next year, we are 
going ahead to build no less than 156 more 
war ships. And remember that each battleship, 
equipped, costs $43,000,000. And smaller craft in 


178 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


proportion. It requires no brilliant imagination to 
discern tbe direction we are heading. It requires 
no seer to discern the rocks of financial peril toward 
which we are drifting. 

Then think of the waste of it all. Take just 
one battleship equipped with ammunition at a cost 
of $43,000,000. It can hold its place at the long¬ 
est ten years. And at the end of twenty years it 
must be junked. Whether sold or destroyed, then, 
its worth is nominal. In 1910, Brijtain sold twelve 
of such obsolete warships and netted only 3.8 per 
cent of their original cost. 

Then think of how much blessing that forty-three 
millions might otherwise bring. The interest alone 
would provide a college education for all the boys 
who will attend the High Schools of Buffalo so long 
as there is a Queen City on the lakes. It would 
provide all the public schools needed in the city for 
the next quarter century. It is more money than 
all the Churches give any year to establish Chris¬ 
tianity in the non-Christian world. It would send 
out and keep as many missionaries as the Presby¬ 
terian Church has altogether in foreign lands. In 
the name of all that is sacred, in the name of suffer¬ 
ing humanity, “ how can these things be ? ” and 
how can they continue? 

But there is something still worse. The very ex¬ 
istence of civilization itself is at stake. A child 
comes upon a piece of dynamite. If he is not care¬ 
ful, it may mean his death. So is it with civiliza- 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


179 


tion. We have marvellously advanced in science. 
It has opened up a new world. It has harnessed 
up untold powers. It has brought to light ten 
thousand possibilities that lay unused since the 
creation of the world. The earth, the sea and the 
air have yielded their mysteries to the master hand 
of Science. And these have been used of Science 
to make war a process of wholesale slaughter. And 
it is just in its infancy. It has just begun. To¬ 
day, only the periscope of a submarine can be seen: 
to-morrow it will be entirely invisible. To-day, it 
can remain only a few hundred miles from its base, 
to-morrow it will go to the ends of the earth. The 
airships have just set out. They are still in their 
chrysalis stage. They have scarce begun to fly. 
To-morrow ten of them will carry ammunition suf¬ 
ficient to blow Kew York City to pieces within an 
hour. To-morrow, men in the air will press a but¬ 
ton and whole cities will be destroyed in a moment. 
Science is no respecter of right or wrong. And 
when it speaks in the wars of the future, it will pro¬ 
claim the end of things. It will turn its Master 
Key, the cities of the earth will crumble, and 
civilization will end as a tale that is told. This is 
not mere fancy, it is born from the cold, unmiti¬ 
gated facts of actual Science. 

To be more explicit. Gas bombs were not used 
in the last war, for they were counted beyond all 
bounds of human torture. But, says Brigadier- 
General William Mitchell before the House Com- 


180 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


mittee on Naval Affairs, “ there is every indication 
they will be used in the next war.” He goes on to 
say that New York City, for example, could be 
tied up in the terrific grip of crying gas by drop¬ 
ping about two tons of the gas on it once every 
eight days. It could be held in the awful throes 
of mustard gas by dropping over it seventy tons 
of this distressing gas every eighth day. Seventy 
tons of deadly phosgena gas dropped on it at the 
same intervals would practically wipe out every 
soul in the great Metropolis. 

D. B. Bradner, Chief of the Chemical Research 
and Development Division of the United States 
Warfare Service, declares that a liquid has re¬ 
cently been discovered, three drops of which ap¬ 
plied to the skin will mean certain death. Air¬ 
planes are being built, which, starting at the north 
city limit of Buffalo, could drop sufficient of this 
deadly liquid to practically wipe out ever visible 
person a quarter of a mile wide for a distance of 
five miles. If this material had been used in the 
World War, few would ever have returned from 
the front. For example, the first American Army, 
a million and a quarter of our brave boys, occupied 
a section on the Argonne about 14 by 28 miles. If 
the Germans had possessed 4,000 tons of this 
poison, they could have annihilated our entire army 
in from 10 to 12 hours. As it was, no less than 30 
per cent of all the casualties of the last war were 
caused by gas. It makes us tremble to think of 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


181 


the possibilities of these new discoveries. W. Lee 
Lewis, who invented this deadliest of poisons, tells 
ns we are facing in future wars the most destructive 
chemicals the world has yet known,—chemicals 
that will pierce the veriest armour and mask. 
Shells will be made that will tear, and with them 
liquids that will poison. Gases will rise as invis¬ 
ible as ether. Gases which no sense can detect, 
whose attack will be as unforeseen as they are 
deadly. We grow sick at heart when we think of 
it all. 

Years ago preachers frightened us into the King¬ 
dom as they thundered the dangers of the hell in 
the world to come. Some consoled themselves with 
the belief that there was no such place. But we 
have no such way out of the future history of war¬ 
fare. For the nations of the earth, by their mad 
policies of armament, have been preparing a literal 
hell on this earth. Whether there is a hell in the 
world to come, we know there was a hell on earth 
from August 4, 1914, till November 11, 1921. 
And we are just as certain that one vastly worse 
lies before us, if we neglect to prevent it. 

How best can the nations prevent this approach¬ 
ing world ruin? First, they must get together. 
Just as the Lord said when men were burdened by 
their mistakes—“ Come, let us reason together.” 
Let us put our brains and our hearts and our wills 
together. Let us first understand each other. Let 
us see where each other stands; what the situation 


182 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


of each is; its needs, its desires and its peculiar 
conditions politically, geographically, territorially, 
economically, commercially, socially and mor¬ 
ally. Let us try to discern each other’s basic ideals 
and motives. Let us study together the inestima¬ 
ble sorrow, the crushing financial burden and the 
demoralized economic conditions arising from our 
past and present system of arms. And more, the 
certain doom that awaits civilization, if this system 
is not removed or radically corrected. And this is 
what the Arms Conference proposes to do. 

Further, the nations assembled must seek out 
fundamental universal moral principles by which 
it is agreed they should regulate all their interna¬ 
tional relations. They must approach the Confer¬ 
ence in the Spirit of the Golden Rule. Each must 
act as he knows the other should act toward him. 
And, further, the prime purpose of each must be 
not alone how he can make out a good case for his 
country, but rather for all the countries and civil¬ 
ization itself. He must be determined on how 
much he can contribute to the purpose of the Con¬ 
ference and not how much he can extract from it 
for the individual glory of himself or his country. 
Every interest of world equity and honour and 
peace must be observed without prejudice or favour 
of any kind. 

The Spirit of God has been brooding over this 
struggling earth ever since He first breathed it into 
existence. His world-wide peace He has been 


WHY WARS SHOULD CEASE 


183 


breathing into the breasts of men everywhere. 
And now He has spoken aloud. Through the 
Christian soul of our President, he has called to¬ 
gether the leading nations so that in word and deed 
He may articulate His desire. Never was any call 
more inspired of Heaven. Never was any call 
more important. Never was a Conference more 
freighted with world destiny. Then what will be 
the result of it? 

The answer to this question lies largely in the 
hands of us who have declared our allegiance to the 
Ruler of all mankind. President Harding has 
clearly declared that the success of the Conference 
depends upon the prayers and active support of the 
Christian people of the world. A leading English 
statesman called England’s attention to this re¬ 
markable declaration of our President. Then to 
our knees. Let us cry aloud to the Prince of 
Peace. Let us lay siege to the throne of God. Let 
our prayers fill the very air with the incense of 
Heaven. And let us voice individually and col¬ 
lectively our heart’s conviction and desire for the 
reduction of armament and a peaceful covenant of 
the nations. Let us veritably storm the citadel of 
the Conference with voice and pen. Till by prayer 
and word and deed the hellish head of the dragon 
of war shall be forever crushed under the heel of 
naan, and “ nation shall not lift up sword against 
nation, and they shall learn to war no more.” 


XIV 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 

“ And I say unto you. That many shall come from the east 
and the west, and shall set down ivith Abraham, and Isaac, 
and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven — Matthew 8:11. 

S HALL we know each other in the next 
world ? Will our earthly life continue 
there? These are questions as deep as the 
human soul. They never die. They always keep 
knocking at the door, seeking an answer. And, 
after all, we can see only the way God’s finger 
seems to point. 

Where God has placed an instinct, He satisfies 
it. He has placed in us the instinct of hunger, and 
He provides the food to satisfy it. In the same 
way He provides water for our thirst; rest for our 
weariness; sleep for our sleepiness; friendship for 
our hearts; knowledge for our brains; beauty for 
our sight; music for our hearing. And, so will He 
doubtless satisfy our unquenchable instinct that we 
shall know each other hereafter. 

Civilization has progressed largely by learning 
its needs and then assuming there is somewhere 
somehow something to meet that need. Thus have 
anti-toxins and other cures been found. Thus have 

most inventions been made. Thus has astronomy 

184 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


186 


progressed till we read the heavens like a book. 
For example, Halley discerned a gap in the order 
of the sky which could be filled only if a heavenly 
body existed there once in seventy-five years. Ac¬ 
cordingly, he discovered a comet which visits that 
part once every three-quarters of a century. So 
Halley’s Comet is a fact which nature required to 
explain herself. So, deep laid in the firmament of 
our hearts, there lies a gap which can find no satis¬ 
faction till again we meet and know and love omr 
dear ones whom we 

“ loved long since, and lost awhile.” 

Through the Bible there runs the golden thread 
of the Future Life. In no uncertain terms it as¬ 
sures us not only that our earthly life will con¬ 
tinue hereafter, but that we shall know and love 
each other as in this world. “ Many shall come,” 
says Jesus, “ from the East and West, and shall sit 
down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the 
Kingdom of Heaven.” Abraham and Isaac and 
Jacob shall certainly know each other according to 
our text. On the Mount of Transfiguration Moses 
and Isaiah appeared. Not only had they been liv¬ 
ing throughout the centuries since they left the 
earth, but they doubtless knew each other during 
all that interval. Then there was Dives. When he 
entered the next world he recognized Lazarus in 
Paradise, the man he had often noticed on earth 
sitting at his gate as he himself passed out and in. 


186 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


Then did you ever think specially of that signifi¬ 
cant statement of Jesus, “ Our friend Lazarus 
sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of 
sleep ? ” To our Lord he was still Lazarus; he was 
still a " friend and he was still “ our ” friend 
Lazarus. In these three aspects his personal rela¬ 
tionship to earth still existed, though he had en¬ 
tered the gates of death. 

Now we must just use our common reason and 
our simple faith as we thus view our subject in the 
light of Nature and Scripture. If Abraham knows 
his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, as our text 
assures us he does, then just as surely does he know 
Sarah, his beloved wife. And, if Jacob knows his 
grandfather, Abraham, then more truly does he 
know Rachel, the wife for whom he served so many 
years. And if Jacob knows both his father and his 
grandfather, just as surely does he know his mother 
and his sons Joseph and Benjamin. The simplest 
logic, therefore, compels the conclusion that we, too, 
as husbands and wives, as fathers and mothers, as 
sons and daughters and as brothers and sisters shall 
surely know each other hereafter . 

Again, we hear Jesus say, “ When ye shall see 
Abraham and Isaac and all the prophets! ” Then, 
if we shall recognize the prophets why not the 
apostles too,—Paul and Peter and John and the 
others ? And why not the early Church fathers too, 
—Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine and the rest of 
them ? And why not too the saints great and small 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


187 


since then ? And why not specially our loved ones, 
whom on earth we knew better than any one that 
ever lived or ever will live? 

We are told in Holy Writ that our future bodies 
shall he u fashioned like unto his glorious body.” 
Jesus arose from the dead with his glorified body. 
It was his resurrection body in which he ascended 
to glory. But his friends recognized that risen 
body. Our resurrection bodies shall be like his. 
Then why, in like manner, shall not our dear ones 
recognize our new bodies? Besides, our knowledge 
here in part shall there be perfected. “ Now we 
see through a glass darkly; but then face to face.” 
Think of it—our love, here begun and here broken, 
shall again behold each other “ face to face ”■—re¬ 
newed, expanded, enlarged, sweetened, purified and 
perfected. A heaven to think of it! 

Without our loved ones there would be no heaven 
for us. Not unless a mystic work of grace would 
completely change our human nature. But God 
fulfills and perfects our nature, He does not change 
it. No, we cannot think of heaven without recog¬ 
nition of and reunion with our dear ones who have 
gone before, as well as those still at our side. If 
there is no heaven for Abraham without Isaac, nor 
-for Isaac without Jacob, neither is there a heaven 
for Abraham without Sarah, nor for Isaac without 
Rehekah and Esau, nor for Jacob without Rachel 
and Joseph. Neither is there a heaven for Hannah 
without Samuel, nor for Mary without Joseph, nor 


188 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


for Susanna Wesley without John, nor for Monica 
without Augustine, nor for Nancy Lincoln without 
her illustrious son Abraham. Never. Neither can 
there be a heaven for you without that precious one 
gone back to the Lord long years ago, and that dear 
heart to whom you said a sad farewell just yester¬ 
day. No—your heaven will come when you again 
embrace your William and your Mary, and I my 
Robert. 

Our loved ones beyond, are still our own. They 
have not died. They have but gone ahead. And 
their leave of us has not changed their identity. 
They are still our dear ones. We still love them, 
and they still love us. Dives still loved his brothers. 
And Lazarus was still “ Our friend.” Do you re¬ 
member the first chapter of that world’s greatest 
drama, the Book of Job? You remember how Job 
was stripped of all he owned. But the last chapter 
says, “ The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had 
before.” He, therefore, gave him twice as many 
sheep and camels and oxen and asses. But He gave 
him only seven sons and three daughters, the num¬ 
ber he had before. Why twice the number of ani¬ 
mals he had, but the same number of children? 
Why? The answer is clear. The former animals 
were destroyed and were no more. But the chil¬ 
dren were taken into the “ Father’s House ” and 
they were still Job’s children. Job now had four¬ 
teen sons and six daughters. And to this great 
faith-filled soul those in the presence of God were 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


189 


as near and as real to Job as those by his side. You 
remember how clearly Wordsworth sang this sweet 
strain in his We are Seven: 

“Sisters and brothers, little maid, 

How many may you be? 

How many? ‘Seven in all/ she said, 

And, wondering, looked at me. 

‘ And where are they ? I pray you tell/ 

She answered, ‘ Seven are we; 

And two of us at Conway dwell, 

And two are gone to sea/ 

‘ Two of us in the churchyard lie, 

My sister and my brother; 

And, in the churchyard cottage, I 
Dwell near them and my brother/ ” 

Then, as if to catch a further gleam of the 
eternal in her breast the traveler pressed his quest : 

“ How many are you, then, said I, 

If they two are in heaven? 

Quick was the little maid’s reply, 

‘O Master! we are seven.’ 

‘ But they are dead; those two are dead! 

Their spirits are in heaven! ’ 

’Twas throwing words away; for still 
The little maid would have her will. 

And said, ‘ Nay, we are seven / ” 

Science has discovered a great fact of nature 
called the Law of Conservation of Energy. This 
means that energy may pass through many forms 
of expression, but the extent of the energy itself is 
conserved, it can never grow less. 

Earthly love is the world’s greatest energy. It 
moves the universe. It is also the very essence of 


190 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


heaven’s energy. So as an energy it cannot die. 
It will be conserved forever. God will see to it that 
if we do our part, the love begun on earth will 
never he lost—not one iota of it. It may he 
changed, or expressed in some other form, hut it 
will still he the same love, expressed more beauti¬ 
fully and sweetly than in this world. 

But you ask, what of those who cannot remember 
their love gone long ago? A question not hard to 
answer. For love sees not with eyes of flesh, nor 
does it depend upon the bounds of earthly memory. 
A few years ago I conducted a funeral in a distant 
place. Nearby stood a young woman weeping over 
a lonely grave. Returning an hour later that way, 
I noticed she was still weeping. On inquiry I was 
told she was sorrowing over the grave of her father 
who died three months before she was born, 
“ Whom not having seen, she loved.” And with 
spiritual eyes of love she will one day see her father 
face to face and know him as only love can know. 

You ask, what of our children who die in in¬ 
fancy or in early childhood ? Just ask yourself to 
make an earthly comparison. Were there a million 
children playing before you, dear mother, you 
would go straight to yours and know it in an in¬ 
stant. Don’t ask me how: instinct is deeper than 
logic. Further, don’t you still see the little infant 
of long ago still in that stalwart grown-up son and 
in that graceful adult daughter of yours ? Of 
course, you do. While time lasts for you and them 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


191 


and throughout eternity, you will always see the 
infant and the childhood wrapped up in their man¬ 
hood and their womanhood. They will still be your 
children. A missionary friend of mine left his son 
of twelve in America to be educated, while he went 
hack to China. Six years later he returned to his 
child only to find him a grown young man, edu¬ 
cated and refined. He told me his joy was beyond 
words. He saw his hoy still twelve hut developed— 
a fuller love and a greater joy than ever filled his 
heart. He would have been disappointed had he 
found his child no larger and still undeveloped. 
So, my dear sorrowing friend, you will recognize 
your child again in a larger and fuller fashion than 
on this earth. He may have been crippled or de¬ 
formed or indisposed on earth. These trials will 
all be removed, for he will be clothed with a new 
and perfect body. You will see him and love him 
just as you did here, only a hundred times more 
dear, more sweet and more real. As Longfellow 
wrote: 

“Not as a child shall we again behold her; 

For when with raptures wild 
In our embrace we again enfold her. 

She will not be a child. 

But a fair maiden in her Father’s mansion, 

Clothed with celestial grace; 

And beautiful with all the soul’s expansion 
Shall we behold her face.” 

What about the hereafter where there has been 
more than one husband or wife on earth? Will 
the marriage love continue? Will more than one 


192 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


husband’s or wife’s love be recognized, or both ? 
Jesus settled this question when be declared that 
in heaven there would be neither giving nor receiv¬ 
ing in marriage. Then what ? J esus answered 
further that when we rise to glory we shall be “ as 
the angels.” The angels surely deeply love each 
other. But they have no sex consideration what¬ 
ever. The marriage tie, as such, lasts “ till death 
do us part ” and no longer. It is then caught up 
into a higher form “ as the angels.” I once met a 
lady very much concerned about this question. She 
insisted that she should love her husband there just 
as here. Doubtless there are many wives and hus¬ 
bands like her. I can only stand on the Master’s 
ground and say to such that whatever your husband 
or your wife has been on earth, in heaven each will 
be an angel. And you will be yourself an angel. 
What more you could wish I do not know. That 
kind of love will take your marriage love and so 
expand and enlarge and glorify it that it will be 
as far above the love of husband and wife on earth 
as heaven is higher than the earth. Plural mar¬ 
riages, like the single notes of music, will be lost 
in the infinite harmony of a perfect endless love. 

Finally you ask, what about those whom we love 
who die out of Christ? A sad question. A ques¬ 
tion that calls for the utmost concern of all who 
love and are not prepared to again take up the love 
chords hereafter. Not to be so prepared is to sin 
against the divinest tie that binds human souls to- 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


193 


gether. It is a sin against the eternity of love. 
And I can scarce conceive a mistake more tragic. 
And yet we must keep in mind that just as the 
Great Father Love came out after us in the person 
of Christ and is still seeking us in the person of 
God’s Holy Spirit, so will He surely continue that 
quest till not only His Love is satisfied but ours 
also. We read that a before Him every knee shall 
bow.” This means that in the great far-off finality 
of things, our loved ones out of Christ, will at last 
enter His Kingdom. In the meantime, however, 
we shall recognize and still love each other here¬ 
after. 

But our love reunion will be much intercepted 
and impeded by the fruits of sin still uncovered by 
the Saving Redeemer. Dives knew Lazarus and 
Abraham, but a gulf separated them. But he com¬ 
municated with Abraham. So shall we know our 
dear ones out of Christ, and we shall communicate 
with them, though intercepted by sin. After all 
it is a good deal as it is on earth. However much 
we love our dear ones here, sin creates a gulf be¬ 
tween us. The greater the sin the greater the gulf. 
Then we must be careful not to judge those who 
have passed away from earth presumably out of 
Christ. That is a matter entirely between such 
persons and their Saviour. Many that seem last 
shall be first, and many that seem first shall be last. 
Nevertheless, there lies upon us all the bounden 
duty to prepare to love together not only for the 


194 


RECOGNITION HEREAFTER 


few brief years on earth but for the endless ages 
of eternity. No greater duty lies upon those who 
are definitely preparing themselves for the blessed 
final Easter Morn than to do everything within 
their power to help the loved ones of our home to 
so prepare themselves. For, after all, love for our 
dear ones just begins on earth; only the blade 
grows here. The beauteous blossom and the ri¬ 
pened fruit await the endless Summer Mom in the 
u land that is fairer than day.’ 7 

As Tennyson wrote of his beloved Arthur— 

“And I shall know him when we meet; 

And we shall sit at endless feast 
Enjoying each other’s good.” 

Indeed, as we used to sing: 

“ We shall know each other better, 

When the mists have rolled away.* 


XV 


OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 

“And now dbideth * * * love .”—I Corinthians 

13:13. 

P ERHAPS there is no question in which we 
are more vitally concerned. It involves our 
immortality. It deals with the very heart 
of our bereavement. Our eyes are ever fixed upon 
it. These dear fellowships of the earth will soon 
be past. Soon these precious communions with 
loved ones will come to an end. Then arises the 
question of our deepest heart, shall we meet again ? 
If so, shall we commune again? And if so, will 
our fellowship be of a higher plane and a fuller 
blessedness ? What is the answer ? What does the 
Sacred Word reveal? How answers Nature? What 
speaks the soul itself? 

Everything points to the belief that God never 
creates an undying desire which He does not in 
some definite way satisfy. Science has long pro¬ 
ceeded on this theory. 

Follow this principle and you will find it holds 
in every-day experience. You hunger, and God 
provides food that satisfies you. You thirst, and 
there is water. You are wearied, and there is rest. 

You are tired, and there is recreation. You love 

195 


196 OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 


art, and there is music. You long for knowledge, 
and there are libraries. Love springs in your heart 
and there are the dear ones in your home. Y r our 
social nature calls for something, and there are a 
hundred friendships and a world of fellow-humans. 
Can you think of a single every-day desire God has 
placed in your heart that sooner or later He has not 
satisfied ? 

Or, if you please, just look down over the past 
centuries of human history. Has not the Creator 
been satisfying one by one the longings of the 
hearts of men in their desires for a higher civiliza¬ 
tion? Men longed for democracy and finally their 
desire was satisfied. They longed for religious lib¬ 
erty, and it came. They longed for the freedom of 
the slave, and it came. They longed for sobriety, 
and it’s at their door. They have longed for world- 
peace, and it is already in the making. Yes, deep- 
rooted is the cosmic principle of universal life that 
all fundamental longings are ultimately satisfied. 
Just as a true parent finally grants the genuine de¬ 
sires of his child’s heart. Indeed, did not Jesus 
say, “ If ye then * * * know how to give good 
gifts unto your children, how much more shall your 
heavenly Father give.” 

I have dwelt at some length upon these facts, 
that we may be thoroughly assured that this deep¬ 
est of all heart longings will one day be entirely 
fulfilled. For God has not two different sets of 
laws running through His worlds. What is true 


OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 197 


in one part holds good in the whole. Gravitation 
is the same in the heavens as it is on the earth. 
And so with every other law. So every page of 
God’s great book of nature and history tells us 
the story that we shall live again and hold sweet 
converse with those u whom we have loved long 
since and lost awhile.” Yes, this deep longing our 
Father only waits His hour to satisfy. Hear the 
promise of His Word, “ He satisfieth the desire of 
every living thing.” 

Many great minds have testified their faith in 
our reunion hereafter. Over the grave of Bunsen, 
the celebrated scientist, from whom we name the 
Bunsen burner, there is inscribed the words, am- 
avimus; amamus; amabimus; for with his last 
breath he whispered to his wife, “ we have loved; 
we love now; we shall love forever.” Robert 
Browning, over the departure of his wife, ex¬ 
claimed, “ O soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee 
again! And with God be the rest! ” You remem¬ 
ber Lord Tennyson’s immortal lines on the death 
of Arthur Hallam: 

“ And I shall know him when we meet: 

And we shall sit at endless feast. 

Enjoying each other’s good: 

What vaster dream can hit the mood 
Of love on earth ? ” 

Turning to the Word of the Lord Himself, do 
you recall the instance of David? You remember 
that when God called his child from his side, he 
bowed in worship and declared, “ I cannot bring 



198 OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 


him back, but I can go to him.” Here is a distinct 
message from the Book of Ages, the World’s Su¬ 
preme Light, telling us in language as clear as the 
rising sun that we shall know each other hereafter 
and love each other just as upon the earth. 

Lazarus was ill and his sisters sent for Jesus, 
who was in Galilee. But Jesus did not go at once. 
And in the meantime Lazarus left this earth. In 
a few days Jesus made to his disciples this im¬ 
portant remark, “ My friend Lazarus sleepeth, I 
go to wake him out of his sleep.” It was the sleep 
of death. How just dwell a moment on these 
words, “ My friend Lazarus sleepeth.” Hotice the 
very personal relationship, “ My friend ” The 
home of Lazarus had long been the favourite home 
of Jesus. It was a feast of joy to his soul to so¬ 
journ now and then in the dwelling-place of these 
three devoted friends of his, Lazarus, Mary and 
Martha. And Lazarus has obeyed the silent sum¬ 
mons of his Creator, and is no more in the flesh. 
And yet Jesus calls him “ My friend.” Their 
friendship was still undisturbed by the gates of 
death. We know so little of just the experience 
through which Lazarus passed those four days. 
Oh, how we should like to know! It would surely 
add untold lustre to the problems of living, grow¬ 
ing old, and dying. As the poet said, 

“Where wert thou, brother, those four days? 

There lives no record of reply, 

Which, telling what it is to die, 

Had surely added praise to praise.” 


OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 199 


But, after all, it matters little where Lazarus was 
in those hidden hours of death, in the light of the 
incomparable fact that wherever he was and through 
whatever experience he was passing, he was still 
the “friend” of Jesus. The ancient Greek Isa- 
dore declared that “ Jesus wept” because he was 
about to recall Lazarus from his blessed habitation 
in the Father’s House to the earthly tabernacle of 
time. It was like calling the mariner now in his 
haven back to the storm-tossed sea. It seemed like 
bringing the triumphant soldier back from the 
laurels of his victory to the pains of the battle-field. 
And then there is the thought that when Lazarus 
returned to earthly life he at once recognized his 
sisters and loved them as before, and doubtless more 
than ever. 

A hundred times, yes, our earthly love goes on 
unbroken, though interrupted by the tide of death. 
And to-morrow on God’s Eternal Shores it will be 
restored a million-fold. 

“ Many shall come,” said Jesus, “ from the east 
and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
and Isaac, and Jacob.” Here we have son and 
father and grandfather together in heaven. And, 
if they are together, why not all their children and 
loved ones with them ? Surely, if Jacob is in the 
communion of love with his grandfather Abraham, 
much more surely will he be in such blessed fellow¬ 
ship with his beloved Rachel and his dear Joseph. 
And, if with these, why not with all his sons and 


200 OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 


daughters? No wonder Jesus uses this illustration 
to picture to us the glories of the blessed Reunion 
Day when we all have been gathered Home. 

Again, you recall how Jesus once said these 
words—“ when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, 
and Jacob, and all the prophets.” Well, if we are 
to see Isaiah, and Jeremiah and Hosea, why not 
also Peter, James and Paul and all the other Apos¬ 
tles ? And, if these, why not the great saints of 
history; and, if these, why not our loved ones who 
mean so much more to us than any of these ? 

Further, is it not a significant bit of truth that 
just as soon as Jesus rose from the tomb, he at once 
communed with his dear ones, Mary and Peter and 
John and his family? And Paul says, “ He be¬ 
came the first fruits of them that slept.” So from 
his root our resurrection fruit will be like his—we, 
too, shall straightway go to our friends. Ah, yes, 
like Mary, as she clung to her dear Lord, so shall 
we cling to him and so shall we embrace our loved 
ones with the love that will not let them go. Yes, 
we shall all go into the Father’s House and there 
on each others’ breasts we shall drink from the 
depthless springs of love as deep and rich as the 
very heart of God. I can hear the Lord say to 
Noah, “ Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” 
Think of it, “ thou and all thy house.” The ark, 
what is it but a symbol of God’s heaven. And, O, 
how blessed when “ all ” in our house have entered, 


OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 201 


and not one missing. For u the promise,” says the 
Lord, “ is imto you and your children.” 

Yes, everything that may have marred our hap¬ 
piness together on this earth will he removed. It 
is the very genius of all nature to toil unremit¬ 
tingly that she remove every obstacle in the way 
of our happiness. The tree of love God is always 
purging. Why ? That it “ may bring forth more 
fruit.” This was Jesus’ Gospel applied to all of 
life. So chanted the prophet long before when he 
sang, “ Every valley shall he exalted, and every 
mountain and hill shall be made low; and the 
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough 
places smooth.” Yerily, my dear friends, every tie 
of earthly love will then he enlarged and perfected. 
In the heart of Tennyson, these expectant fires 
burned as he thought of Arthur: 

“ Eternal form shall still divide, 

Eternal soul from all beside, 

And I shall know him when we meet.” 

Yes, our earthly love will continue hereafter. 
But God intends it should he even sweeter and 
holier than it ever could he on earth. For that is 
just His way. It is His plan that every to-morrow 
should find our faculties and our experiences better 
than to-day. And so we’ll love hereafter more than 
ever. And as one star differs from another star in 
glory, so shall we differ in our degrees of Love’s 
reunion there. Why ? Because our capacities will 
differ one from the other. Yet each reunited love 


202 OUR EARTHLY LOYE HEREAFTER 


will be full. How ? Let me illustrate wbat I mean 
by supposing five glasses were now placed on this 
pulpit, with capacities of four, six, eight and ten 
ounces respectively. I would pour into them water 
till they were all filled. All would be full, but the 
fullness of one would be greater or less than the 
fullness of another. So is it hereafter. We are 
all growing souls. Some are cultivating the love- 
capacity here by thoughts and deeds of love, so that 
its fullness in the world beyond will be as beauti¬ 
ful and glorious as the most brilliant constellation 
in the heavens. And some are loving so little here, 
they are so preoccupied with themselves or with the 
loveless things of life, that they are dwarfing the 
love powers of their souls. And one day, when the 
mists have rolled away, they will wake up to find 
the fullness of their love compared to the gleam of 
some* sequestered star. 

Ah, yes, dear friends, we are making here love’s 
nest for the great hereafter. That’s why Jesus 
never tired telling us to “ love one another,” that 
w T e might gain the love-soul. For, after all, that is 
the essence of human life, of all time and all 
eternity. 

The secret of our love is found in keeping close 
to God. For “ God is love.” Close to Him here 
we drink deep from the everlasting fountains of 
earthly love. And thus we grow more and more 
loveful and loveable. And with it we become more 
and more beautiful and rich. And we rise to 


OUR EARTHLY LOYE HEREAFTER 203 


greater heights of strength and happiness. But, 
above all, in God’s great endless to-morrow the full¬ 
ness of our reunited love will be “ joy unspeakable 
and full of glory.” The rays of light are nearest 
each other when they are nearest the light from 
which they radiate. So is it with our love for our 
dear ones. It is just as Monica said, many cen¬ 
turies ago, when at a tender age her famous son, 
Augustine, was leaving home. “ My Son,” she 
said, “ keep close to the Lord, and I will do the 
same. For, if we both keep close to Him, we can¬ 
not at any time be far from each other.” So when 
we sing, “ Hearer my God to Thee,” we also sing, 
“ Hearer, dear ones, to you.” I believe this is 
veritably true while still we are separated by death. 
Each of us forever at the feet of our Lord, we can 
never be far from each other. And the nearer we 
live to the Master here the nearer shall we dwell 
with Him hereafter. And then, the nearer forever 
shall we be to each other, and the better shall we 
know each other, and the deeper shall we love each 
other when we have all passed beyond the tide of 
time. 

Dear, sad heart, perhaps at times you grow im¬ 
patient. For the road seems to stretch out so far 
before you. But, be of good cheer, just a little 
way over the hill-top, and your journey will be 
complete. Just a few more ticks of God’s great 
clock, and day will dawn, and your night’s long, 
weary waiting will be past forever. Just a few 


204 OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 


more hours of loneliness and then into the waiting 
arms of your dear one whom you “ loved long since 
and lost awhile.” Then you will see The Father’s 
blessed purpose in all the sorrow of these lonely 
hours. Then you will understand why in the 
shadow of death Jesus said to his disciples, “ Let 
not your heart he troubled.” 

“ Yes, we’ll gather at the river, 

The beautiful, the beautiful river, 

Gather with our loved ones at the river. 

That flows by the Throne of God.” 

Behind our text, “How abideth * * * love” 
is our immortality. At the bottom of all our as¬ 
surance of loving our dear ones hereafter is the fact 
of our inherent immortality. Jesus recognized this 
that day He said to His disciples, “ Let not your 
heart be troubled.” He had just told them that 
soon He was to leave them. And their hearts were 
filled with sorrow. It was then He uttered these 
w^ords that in the hour of death have been a com¬ 
fort to the ages. 

Why did Jesus say such words ? For surely, if 
ever the heart is troubled, it is when a dear one 
has departed from us in death. The answer clearly 
is that Jesus knew all about His leaving them. And 
that if they knew its meaning as He did, their 
hearts would not be troubled. He knew there was 
no such thing as death, He never recognized death. 
When He went into the room of the young maiden, 
who lay in what everyone called death, He declared, 


OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 205 


u She is not dead.” Paul later said he desired to 
“ depart and be with the Lord.” And our great 
Christian poet sang: “ There is no death.” 

And nature seems to tell us the same story. Every 
five or six years we have entirely new bodies. So 
some of us have had four and some eight and some 
twelve different bodies. But each of us remembers 
all the different bodies in which we lived. Finally 
the last body becomes unfit to live in. So we just 
move out into a “ body not made with hands, eter¬ 
nal in the heaven,”—the most natural thing in the 
world to do—just to move into a better house. Jesus 
calls it the “ Father’s House.” 

When we move from one house to another or from 
one country to another, do we leave behind us our 
love? A thousand times—no. W T here we go our 
love for dear ones goes with us. So, a hundred 
times more does our love for them go wfith us when 
we move out into the blessed realms beyond. And 
equally so shall we carry with us our love for our 
departed when one day w r e follow them into the 
glory of the Father’s House. 

In its last analysis, what is death ?« Is it not just 
a gathering home “ one by one ? ” And it matters 
little where it is, so long as it is home—the Father’s 
House—with the Saviour of men and loved one3 
gone before. For, after all, home is in essence the 
sweet fellowship of ones we love the most. 

Then think of Jesus saying to every one of us, 
ce I will come again, and receive you unto myself; 



206 OUR EARTHLY LOVE HEREAFTER 


that where I am, there ye may be also.” Those 
words “ receive you unto myself ” are very intense. 
They speak of blessed immediacy and intimacy with 
the Redeemer. And, of necessity, do they speak 
likewise of our love reunion with those “ whom we 
have loved long since and lost awhile.” 

Time will then be past. All mountains, plains 
and valleys shall cease. All the enduring glory of 
the stars and planets shall be no more. The myriad 
forms of earth’s passing life and power shall be for¬ 
gotten as a tale. But one thing shall remain. It is 
the one thing that lives on earth when all else has 
failed. It will be the depthless, deathless love be¬ 
gun on earth. For, “ love never faileth.” 

Let us, then, catch and acquire this larger view 
of death as Jesus saw it. And let us see in death 
only the diviner continuity of life. Let us see in 
it not a dried up stream, but an open channel; not 
a faded flower, but a golden harvest; not a broken 
hope, but an unfettered life; not a sense phenome¬ 
non, but a spiritual force; not a temporal calamity, 
but an eternal glory; not nature’s whim, but our 
Father’s plan. 


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